When collecting blueberries between the border posts, pickers were often closely watched by uniformed guards from both sides.

In Bärnau the Waldnaab bends towards the west and flows through the Liebenstein flood retention basin, about 88 hectares (220 acres) in area, a little way below Bärnau-Thanhausen and north of Plößberg.

Next it swings northwards and reaches the village of Tirschenreuth, where it turns west again and flows through the Waldnaabaue (Waldnaab water meadows), meandering its way through the many lakes in the area.

From there the Waldnaab heads south, accompanied most of the way by the A 93 motorway and the B 15 federal road, flowing through Neustadt, Altenstadt and Weiden, where it picks up the Schweinnaab coming from the west, before reaching Luhe-Wildenau.

The erosion of granite has produced a great number of rock formations, such as the Kammerwagen, the Tischstein or the Butterfass in this nature reserve.