Bärenstein, Mountain summit in Saxony, Germany

Bärenstein is a mountain in the Ore Mountains with a height of 898 meters and features basalt rock formations. Its rocky structures shape the landscape of this region in Saxony.

Bärenstein is an erosion remnant of a former lava flow, built mainly of basalt like the neighbouring Pöhlberg and Scheibenberg, both of which it overtops. In 1865 a second-order triangulation column was erected on the summit during the Royal Saxon triangulation; the long-toppled column was re-erected in 2005 about 25 metres south of its original site. The Erzgebirgsverein Bärenstein first sought an observation tower in 1890, and after a shelter hut was approved in 1903, the foundation stone for the tower house was laid on 1 May 1913 and the building inaugurated on 30 November 1913.

The mountain gave its name to the village of Bärenstein below it, and the local Erzgebirgszweigverein, founded in 1888, held its 25th-anniversary celebration at the opening of the mountain inn on 30 November 1913. The summit path and the 30-metre tower are maintained for walkers, and the Stoneman Miriquidi mountain-bike route crosses the slope.

A summit loop path with several viewpoints circles the wooded top, and the 30-metre tower of the Berghotel, reopened on 18 June 2021 after renovation, serves as the lookout. The tower frames views of the Keilberg and Fichtelberg, the Cranzahl reservoir below to the west and Annaberg to the north. A ski lift, toboggan slope and ski trails lie on the mountain for winter use.

On the north slope, an abandoned quarry exposes the basalt's columnar jointing, and a roughly one-hectare area around the summit is protected as a Flächennaturdenkmal. A triangulation column of the second order was set up on the summit in 1865; toppled for years, it was re-erected in 2005 about 25 metres south of its original spot.