A Walk in The Black Forest: 22nd June to 2nd July 2026.
This year we decided that Germany would be an ideal location for our walking holiday and as I always had a hankering for The Black Forest so it was.
As always we investigated the best weather conditions that would make it ideal for walking and settled on late June with an average temperature of 21 degrees and little rain. Ideal. Oh how wrong we were to be.
Arrived at Basel and was met by our driver who was to take us to our first hotel at Feldburg-Falkau the Peterle. The weather was hot and it was predicted to get hotter, certainly above 21 degrees! The hotel was small and very pleasant. The view from the room was great and the food was fantastic. A great start to the holiday.
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| View of Feldburg-Falkau |
Walk day 1: The Shepherd Boy Trail: 15km.
A warm start to the morning so set off about 08.30 to do this circular walk. It was great to get moving and after just a short road walk we were in the woods and enjoying the shade. The walk was themed around the life of a young shepherd boy and his hardships looking after the livestock and the land. Throughout the walk we passed information boards illustrating his life and hardships!
At the start of the walk we passed by an area of woodland that showed clear signs of beaver activity, sadly no beavers in sight!
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| Beaver Country |
The walk took us up through the forest and then across wonderful open meadows. Well placed benches provided us with an excellent place to stop and take in the view and a rest from the increasingly hot weather.
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| Meadows and Red-backed Shrike |
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| Above Hirtenpfad at the start of The Shepherd Boy Trail |
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| Storm approaching |
As we came back into the town we passed more beaver activity before returning to the hotel for a marvellous five course meal based on foraged produce.
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| More Beaver activity. |
Walk Day 2: Feldberg-Falkau to Hinterzarten: 15.1km
Expecting another hot day we were in as early as possible for breakfast and off as soon as we could. Even then you could tell it was going to be another hot day!
The walk goes via Barental and gives an extensive view across the valley with its farmsteads, livestockand meadows. The route passes through part of the Michelhofen private estate.
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| Farm and Barn at entrance of the estate |
We had a stop at the Mathisleweiher Lake that was situated in the forest. A number of people were in swimming and although tempted we resisted the urge to jump in and escape the increasingly hot weather.
and the walk into Hinterzarten and a cold beer as a reward for another hot day's walk.
Hinterzarten is a popular resort for German visitors and its ski jumps are well known. It was a very charming place and our hotel was on the large green at the centre of the town. That night Germany were playing in the World Cup so the beer garden below our room was busy into the early morning!
Mathisleweiher Lake
After our stop we climbed west to reach the Hauslebaurer meadows. The route took us down to a historic farmhouse and barn.
but more importantly to a fantastic drink stop!
This is a 'Milchhisili' - Little milk house- where milk churns were kept cool by the running water. This had been converted to the most amazing honesty bar, stocked with cold soft drinks and beer all for 2 euros each!
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Milchhisili' - Little milk house Selecting a cold drink we settled down on the massive bench to enjoy the view and the heat!   View from the drink station. |
Leaving the drink station we climbed up to the tree line passing a wooden water trough in which I dipped my wrist band and soaked my hat in preparation for the heat of the afternoon.
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| Wooden water trough fed with cool, clear water. |
Back in the forest we got the occasional relief from the heat but it never lasted for long and we were soon out crossing very hot meadows with no shade at all until we came to a ski lift and started down into the valley
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| Hut at top of the ski lift |
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| A welcome cold beer |
Day off in Hinterzarten
Today we were to do a circular walk around Hinterzarten but the extreme hot weather (now reaching 38 degrees) was beginning to take its toll. Debbie was suffering greatly from both big toe nails being bashed and now swollen and the nails looking like she will lose them. We decided to take the day off, recover and prepare for tomorrow's walk which would be the longest of the trip with temperatures forecast to be up to 40 degrees by 2pm.
Making use of our tourist travel card we took a short trip to Titisee, famous for its lake and cuckoo clocks. We enjoyed beiong a tourist wandering through the streets and browsing through the shops until we reached the lake. Spotting the swimming area further along the shore we headed off for a cool swim. However disaster struck.
While walking along the path I didn't see a low concrete block in my path and went over it landing flat on my face! Mu left leg was a mess and I had a nose bleed! Needless to say I was also terribly embarrassed as people gathered around to help me up and provide tissues.
The thought of swimming in a lake with open wounds was not appealing but I did make use of the facilities to clean up the wounds!
Returning to Hinterzarten we called in to a wonderful cafe and Debbie had a massive banana split and I had a massive fruit cocktail as well as coffee.
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| A little snack in the afternoon. |
That night we decided that the heat tomorrow would be potentially a real challenge so we decided to get up early and make an early start.
Walk day 3: Hinterzareten to Kirchzarten: 17km
We were up by 5.00 and out and on the road by 5.30. It was a beautiful morning around 17 degrees. The walk took us via Bisten and Alpersbach up to the top of the valley.
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| Early morning looking toward Hinterzarten Our plan was to get to the second mountain hut for brunch for when it opened at 10 am. Once at the top of the valley we had great views over the rolling meadows and farms. We passed a mountain hut that was not yet open but above it we came across the most amazing 'sauna bench', the largest bench of any type I've ever seen.  |
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| Double sided bench. Sooo comfortable we feel asleep! |
Leaving the most comfortable bench in the world we headed on through the forest to Hinterwaldkopf and the Freiburger Turnershaft War Memorials set with a stone circle at the summit.
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| Freiburger Turnershaft War Memorial It was now around 10 am and the heat was building. We pushed on to the next hut the Hofener Hutte  and arrived just after it opened to enjoy a brunch of cold meats and cheeses and a cold apple and soda.  Brunch at the Hofener Hutte |
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| On the track to Kirchzarten On arriving into Kirchzarten we enjoyed a well earned ice cream before going to the hotel. The receptionist was very welcoming and asked if we enjoyed our train journey to Kirchzarten and was gob smacked when we told him we had walked through what turned out to be 40 degree heat! The heat had started to take a toll on us. Debbie's big toes were now VERY angry and painful. We decided to scrap our next days planned walk from Kirchzarten and just rest up. It was enjoyable wondering around the place and looking at he storks nesting on the church roof.  We spent a good while sitting on a bench under a tree as the heat once again built up. The next morning we should have completed our final leg of the walk but, with mutual agreement, we decided that it would be better to get the train to Freiburg and call the walking a day! A few days in Freiburg Freiburg was a really nice place to spend a couple of days. It had been heavily bombed by both the Germans themselves and the allies but was rebuilt after the war maintaining the medieval streets and designs. The old part had lots of narrow streets with lots of small shops and cafes. The Cathedral survived the war and our room gave us a wonderful view of this building and we were able to listen to the organist practicing late in the evening. The Cathedral also had a very rude gargoyle who was pointing his rear in the direction of our room in the hotel!   Freiburg Main Square Being a University town Freiburg has a unique way of dealing with noisy students and local that gather in one of its main squares. A glass pillar stands in the square and as the noise level builds up the pillar turns different colours until it reaches red and everyone goes home!  Freiburg was a real treat at the end of our walking holiday. Due to flights we did have a couple of days in Basel which although pleasant was not a place we would return too. |
Photo album from the trip and be seen here.
