Cross trail Freiburg - Lake Constance: Hinterzarten - Kappel

The route hike begins in Hinterzarten at the Kurhaus or the train station within sight of the Schwarzwaldhof hotel. From there, the white-red lozenge on a yellow background points to the Adlerweg between Bahnhof- and Rathausstraße. Here stands an artistically designed carillon of the Evangelical parish.

Past the signpost "Adlerplatz", we head towards "Adler-Skistadion", at the "Cemetery" a short stretch straight ahead towards "Bruderstieg" and then keep left at the edge of the cemetery. Sickinger Straße finally changes into the "Bruderstieg", which leads up through the forest beside the ski jump to the "Hellblech" site. At Landhaus Färber, the cross trail and the west route of the Westweg intersect. We turn left and reach the "Bankenhöhe (1000 m)" on a forest track through the "Henslerwald".

From there we descend toward "Bankenhof". On meadow paths and through pastures, we reach the "Fire Brigade Home" in the Bruderhalde district of Titisee and finally the "Bankenhof".

An asphalted path leads us further downhill. Along the way, we cross the Seebach, which flows from the Feldsee into the Titisee, and meet the east route of the Westweg at the "Campingplatz Bankenhof". With this, we turn left and bypass the 4-star campsite.

Shortly afterward, we reach another campsite, the "Sandbank am Titisee". We cross it on an asphalt path along the Titisee, which eventually leads into a forest path towards the hotel "Titisee Seehof". Here the cross trail turns right.

Beforehand, a detour into the town of Titisee is recommended. For this, we continue following the lakeside path.

"An der Gutach" is where the Seebach originates from the Titisee and continues as the Gutach, until it merges with the Haslach to form the Wutach. We will still encounter both.

In the "center of town", we are in the pedestrian zone with typical Black Forest souvenir shops. Here the Seestraße turns right into Parkstraße toward the train station.

At the signpost "Seehof (860 m)", we orient ourselves again on the cross trail toward the "Seesteige". For this, we go under the railway line and the B317. At "Am Winterberg (908 m)" the cross trail branches off as a path and continues straight uphill to Saig to the "Waldhaus (1032 m)". There we follow the signpost toward "Saig, 0.6 km" and finally ascend left toward the "Hochfirst". On the way, we enjoy the view over the Titisee to the Feldberg. Below the Luchsenfelsen rock follows the final ascent over the fork in the path "Luchs" to the "Hochfirst (1190 m)".

Here stands the 25-meter-high Hochfirst Tower, built in 1890 in steel framework construction. The construction with an encased double spiral staircase has been a listed architectural special since 1989. After 123 steps, we reach the viewing platform. An orientation board helps with the wonderful panoramic view of the southern Black Forest. In clear weather, Hegau, the Swabian Jura, and the Alpine range can also be seen. Below the observation tower is the Berggasthaus Hochfirst operated by the Black Forest Club. It also offers accommodation to hikers.

Together with the Mittelweg from Neustadt, we follow the cross trail down evenly from the Hochfirst to the Vögelesfelsen, the best-known power spot in the High Black Forest. From the "Balzenwaldhut", we enjoy the view of the Feldberg once more and then continue to the "Hierabrunnen". There the two long-distance trails part ways again. Through the "Beerwald", we reach the Kappel height "Beim Franzosenkreuz". Below the site, the Franzosenkreuz by the forest edge commemorates those fallen in a battle between French and Austrian troops on April 4, 1799.

The path continues downhill to Kappel to the "Gasthaus Blume" and then left through Erlenbachweg past the tourist information into Neustädter Straße to the parish church St. Gallus.

A few meters further is the stop "Kappel Kirche" at the end of the hike. From here, there are regular bus connections to Neustadt.