Hikes in Thurnau

Walk through the idyllic Thurnau with St. Laurentius Church, castle, and castle pond.

Parking: At the church or the Kulturscheune Start and finish: Information board at the church in Obernsees Marking Blue Ring

Circular hike near Obernsees.

On the high plateau of the Turmberg near Kasendorf, there was a castle around 1200 AD. The 20-meter-high Magnus Tower was probably built around 1498 on the foundation remains of the former bergfried. On the castle grounds and at the tower, there are information boards about their historical significance. On the tower itself, there is an observation platform from which you can enjoy a wonderfully wide view over the northern Franconian Switzerland.▶ We start our hike behind the castle in Thurnau 01: We follow the path and number 64 along the castle pond and turn right uphill onto the next street. At the main street, we turn left and immediately behind the supermarket turn right again onto "Am Hegnig," a little uphill until we turn left onto the fields after the residential area. We follow the meadow path, at the first junction turn right and then immediately left uphill along the fields toward the forest. Upon reaching it, we turn right and follow the path; after a left turn, it steeply ascends through the deciduous forest through a hollow way. After about 20 minutes, the path leads us out of the forest through Neudorf 02. At the village exit, we turn right onto the field path. This becomes a tarmac lane that leads uphill and downhill past meadows and fields. At the T-junction, we keep left and after a short distance turn right again onto the land consolidation path. We follow number 64, which turns into a forest path up to the Magnus Tower 03. Here we follow the signs straight past the tower, left down a small staircase to the meadow and right over stairs back into the forest. A narrow path now leads us serpentine steadily downhill; at the field path, you can turn left or right, both ways lead further downhill through the forest to the Kasendorf festival site 04. We cross this and now follow the road towards Zultenberg. At the village exit, we turn right up the "Sonnleite" steeply onto the field and meadow path out of the village. At the bee house, we turn left and then slightly right following the "Old Kasendorf Way." We come to a land consolidation path, into which we turn right and follow it left around the curve. After about 200 meters, a sign points us right down a narrow path "Along the Franconian Way towards Peesten" at the Franconian Way junction 05. It now descends steeply through the deciduous forest; shortly before the end of the forest, we watch for the signage that leads us slightly right through the woods to the field path. Now, after a few minutes along the forest edge, we walk to the road, where we sharply turn left to shortly before Lindenberg and then again right along the Magnus Way towards Peesten. Now downhill on meadow paths, first left and then immediately right along the fields, we again reach the deciduous forest. First on narrow paths (very muddy when wet!) straight ahead briefly and then holding slightly left, we reach a gravel path into which we turn right. We now follow this path for a good quarter of an hour until it leads us out of the forest to the edge of Peesten 06. But before we enter the village, we turn sharply right towards Döllnitz. Down the meadow to a field path up to a large crossroads: Here we turn left and then immediately right to the federal road. We cross the B22 and follow the field path slightly right off the road, which leads us past the center of Upper Franconia 07 and an associated artwork. After crossing a tarmac road, we take the next junction left towards Döllnitz. We follow the field path slightly downhill until we reach the main road again. We turn left and follow the main road through Döllnitz 08, until the first opportunity to sharply turn right, immediately left uphill to shortly before the fields. We follow the trail markings left, again onto the road, and then along the field path to the edge of the forest. Now right, always along the forest edge, until we turn right onto a field path to follow the sign towards Thurnau. Soon, we follow the left field path down, cross the road and a stream, pass a few houses of Hammerhäus 09, and follow the field path that after a few minutes leads right uphill into the forest. For the last one to one and a half hours, we follow the wide, well-signposted forest path that leads us back to Thurnau 01.

Following in the footsteps of the famous poet Jean Paul, this section of the Jean-Paul Trail takes us past various places significant in the poet’s life. Signs featuring short excerpts from the poet’s works and thoughts line the trail. The trail was established between 2002 and 2012, stretching from Joditz near Hof through Wunsiedel and Bayreuth to Sanspareil.As the highlight of the tour, Sanspareil invites you to visit the famous Rock Garden—an English landscape garden created between 1744 and 1748.▶ We begin our hike at Fantaisie Castle in Donndorf 01. From the parking lot, we follow the “Jean-Paul-Weg” sign—which features a portrait of the poet—for the entire route, through the castle park, downhill past the pond onto a path that leads us through the Salamander Valley. After a good quarter of an hour, we climb several flights of stairs out of the Salamander Valley into the village of Eckersdorf 02. We walk straight through the village, following the signs, and cross the B22. We follow the dirt road that begins here, crossing fields and skirting the edge of the forest, always heading toward the forest hut. In the hamlet of Oberwaiz 03, we follow the main road and, just before leaving the village, turn right onto a path that leads us to the entrance of the Teufelsloch Nature Reserve 04. For a good half hour, we now climb and make our way over roots, stones, and boulders, crossing several small bridges through the romantic, wild forest of the Teufelsloch until we reach a wide forest path again at the Teufelsbrücke. Here we turn right and follow the easy-to-walk trail straight ahead all the way to the forest hut 05. At the forest hut, we turn left and follow first the forest trail, then through tall grass and the sparse forest. This leads us directly to Neustädelein 06. Here, turn right onto the main road and, at the edge of town, turn left onto field and forest trails heading uphill toward Alladorf. As we exit the forest, we follow the forest path to the left, which leads us—sometimes uphill, sometimes downhill—straight into Alladorf 07. Here, we cross the B22 and follow Jean-Paul-Weg along a narrow paved road; at the end of it, we turn left toward Kleinhül 08. After leaving the village, we turn left again onto a farm road, which now takes us straight to the Sanspareil 09 parking lot.

Angefangen bei der Markgrafenkirche in Thurnau über den Roten Main zur Markgrafenkirche nach Neudrossenfeld

Angefangen bei der Markgrafenkirche in Thurnau über den Roten Main zur Markgrafenkirche nach Neudrossenfeld

von Neudorf zum Golfplatz Thurnau, durch Thurnau, Berndorf, Menchau und über die Aubachquelle zurück nach Neudorf

ab Parkplatz

ab Parkplatz