Hikes in Ehekirchen

Sunny route above the rooftops of Weidorf and Haselbach

Weidorf, Steinhalde, Haselbach

All about the Matchstick above the DonaumoosIn this case, "matchstick" does not mean a match, but an extensive forest area on the heights west of the Donaumoos. The municipality of Ehekirchen has marked an interesting circular hiking trail here, which leads once counterclockwise around the matchstick and only briefly dives into the forest twice, but mostly remains varied and scenic outside the forest edge. The landscape presents itself with two faces: while the first, eastern part of the tour is entirely oriented towards the Donaumoos with the places Ehekirchen, Ambach, Fern- and Nähermittenhausen, the view on the second part goes northwest towards the Danube valley and the Franconian Alb rising behind it, and with Bonsal only one more village is touched.

Tour to get to know the village of Hollenbach. This is where the Längenmühlbach originates, which flows to the Danube.

Today’s hike takes us across meadows, fields, and the beautiful forests of Schorn up to the Gumppenberg. In the 13th century, a medieval castle stood here, but 400 years later it gradually fell into disrepair. Ignaz Franz, Baron von Gumppenberg, had a Baroque castle built on its foundations. Unfortunately, the complex was destroyed just twenty years later during the War of the Spanish Succession. The Barons of Gumppenberg had the ruins demolished and some of the materials incorporated into their new stately home in Pöttmes. Although nothing remains of its former splendor, we can still enjoy this lovely spot. > We start at the parking lot by the Schützenheim 01 in Schainbach. Without any signs, we follow the small paved road out of town. After a few minutes, we turn left at a pretty wayside shrine onto a dirt road and follow it a few hundred meters to the St 2035 02. Be careful when crossing the road! On the other side, continue straight ahead on a grassy dirt path, passing another unassuming wooden cross and walking about 300 meters along the field. Then we turn left, first onto a grassy path and shortly afterward down a slightly steeper dirt path past some deciduous trees and an apiary, leading down to a paved path. We follow it to the right. At its end, we come to a gravel path, which we follow gently downhill to the left, passing between fields and woods. Now we’re back on the Ehekirchen hiking trail “Lorenzi-Donaumoos.” The route eventually joins a paved road. Here, an information sign about the Burgstall on the Richbichl 03 awaits us. We turn right and hike downhill to a fork in the path with a hunting blind. Turning left, the trail runs along the edge of the forest. After two hundred meters, we keep to the left onto a meadow path that takes us past a half-ruined iron hunting blind and a multi-stemmed tree. It eventually leads to the hamlet of Aumühle 04. A paved road takes us the last stretch to the main road, which we follow for 150 meters to the left. Then the hiking signs direct us to the right onto a narrow paved road that eventually turns into a forest trail and takes us gently uphill through the cool forest. At the next major fork, we keep to the left to continue climbing. A short while later, at another fork, we turn left again, still heading uphill. Eventually, we come to a cross path, which we follow to the right. It leads us along a very beautiful forest path, soon passing a picturesque wooden swing and a memorial stone, and gradually out of the forest to the trail fork at Gumppenberg 05. We hike down the wide gravel path to the left, but only for a few meters. At the next intersection, we turn left. We follow the driveway to a house for a few steps, then immediately turn left again and follow an unassuming path overgrown with tall grass into the sparse deciduous forest. It turns into a narrow, partly overgrown forest path that leads us down a few switchbacks. Once at the bottom, the route takes another left-hand turn, then we walk straight ahead on a gravel forest path. We follow the path for twenty minutes, then we reach State Road 2035. We follow a paved road to the left, parallel to the state highway. Shortly afterward, we cross it and walk past Schorner Weiher into the small village of Schorn 06. At the end of the road, across from St. Magnus, we turn left, passing Schorn Castle on our way to the edge of town. Here we keep to the left onto a freshly paved path that takes us to Walda in half an hour. At the Daferner Inn 07, we turn right, follow the Mühlweg to the last farmstead, and—just before the building—turn onto a narrow, paved path running along the side of the house. At the road, we turn right back toward Schainbach and return to the Schützenheim 01.

​The Ehekirchen “Streichholzrunde” is a long forest hike. It takes us from one wooded area—or, more precisely, one section of forest—to the next. We hike primarily along the edge of the forest. On the way there, magnificent views of the Danube Valley all the way to the Franconian Jura open up time and again. > We start our long loop in Ehekirchen 01. There is plenty of parking available at the town hall. First, we walk southwest, past the church and along the main street, maintaining the same direction. At Weiherweg, we turn right, follow the small road around the curve, and then turn left onto a dirt path at the crucifix. We’ll soon find ourselves getting closer and closer to the edge of the Goglerholz forest 02. At the end of the path, we turn right, walk briefly through the forest, and then continue along the forest edge again. At the southwestern tip of the forest, we turn north: Now we’ll hike along the Schöntalholz for a few minutes. The trail briefly moves away from the edge of the forest, then runs for a few hundred meters more in the shade of the trees before leaving them behind entirely. We keep heading north and ignore all side trails until we reach the outskirts of Bonsal 03. At a building, we cross diagonally to the right and immediately continue northward. At the crossroads by the pond, after about 500 meters, we turn briefly to the left but then immediately swing back to the right, passing the pond. A dirt road now takes us to the Eillingholz. At the edge of the forest, it joins a path that turns left just inside the woods. After about 150 meters, we follow it to the right. 100 meters later, we pass a rather overgrown cross 04. The route runs along the edge of the Eillingholz forest; the last 50 meters are across open meadow to a dirt road. We cross it onto a paved path and walk a short distance north, then turn right at the first opportunity and follow the dirt road eastward. The path heads straight toward the forest but turns left just before reaching it and runs along the forest edge until it joins another dirt road at a pond. We take a sharp right turn and hike gently uphill for a few minutes. A small hiking sign points out the turnoff for a detour to St. Wolfgang 05. We follow an indistinct meadow path to the left, through the fields. At the end of the field, it veers briefly to the right and then leads steeply down to a gravel path. We climb back up this path, passing a hunting blind, and continue straight ahead on a meadow path through a small grove and along the edge of the forest. Soon we reach the road, where we turn right toward St. Wolfgang 06. We take the same path back to the junction for the detour to St. Wolfgang 05. We continue on to the forest, where we come across a pretty bench and a memorial cross 07. After another short stretch through the forest, we turn right at the next opportunity. A farm road takes us down into the valley. From here on, a bit of navigation is required, as the paths aren’t always clearly visible. As a general rule, keep heading south. We cross a road diagonally to the right, and just 50 meters later, we make another right-left turn across the meadow. A few minutes later, we come to a path that we follow to the left. Then we come to a road, which we cross straight ahead. We quickly walk along the edge of the forest again, then follow a cross-path to the left and, about 25 meters later, turn right onto a barely discernible path that leads us steeply uphill. A hundred meters later, we head diagonally to the left onto a path. After 150 meters, however, we leave it again, turning right and heading downhill. In the valley, we cross a road, slightly to the left, and then climb steeply again. At the top, the path meets a dirt road, which we follow to the right along the edge of the forest. It soon curves to the left, moves away from the forest, and now leads us steadily straight ahead toward the south. Soon we’re back on solid asphalt. We walk straight through Ambach 08. We leave the village again via the forest road and stroll to the next intersecting dirt road. We follow it to the right; shortly afterward, we turn left again and now walk straight ahead to the outskirts of Ehekirchen. There, we turn left and walk back to the parking lot in a few minutes.

St.Wolfgang