Freiburg - Lake Constance cross-path: Schattenmühle – Blumberg

For those hikers who are not on the long-distance trail of the Black Forest Association and come specifically for this route, it is recommended to first walk about 1.5 km through the Lotenbach Gorge, a romantic side gorge of the better-known Wutach Gorge. It starts at the Lotenbach Gorge parking lot or the nearby bus stops “Gündelwangen Lotenbach Gorge” or “Gündelwangen Abzw. Schattenmühle” and ends at the Schattenmühle parking lot. 

Our route walk begins at the guesthouse Schattenmühle. First, we cross the grounds of Schattenmühle, where a wooden sign near the mill channel shows the way to the Wutach Gorge. On a rooty path, we ascend on the left bank of the Wutach. Where high walls of bunter sandstone rise, the path narrows. Soon we reach a clearing and shortly afterwards re-enter the forest. There we encounter the ruins of Oberdietfurt and take a detour down to the Wutach’s erosion slope. The first recorded mention of a gypsum mill in the lower muschelkalk of the Wutach Gorge dates back to 1424. It was located at the Dietfurt (Diet Middle High German = people), where an ancient and important long-distance route from the Neckar region to Switzerland crossed the Wutach. Only the overgrown ruins remain of the gypsum mill and the former guesthouse. A gypsum block by the path marks the place where the Dietfurt Bridge once stood. Travelers had no tolls to pay here. The station path commemorates this old connection between Reiselfingen and Bonndorf. 

After the Dietfurt Waterfall, we reach the barbecue area located to the left of the path. Before reaching the wild stream at the wide new Dietfurt Bridge, we can rest here. From the bridge, the massive protective structures that shield the bridge pillars from damage by driftwood are noticeable. We continue following the left side of the Wutach until the Fritz-Hockenjos footbridge. Opposite was the “former Bad Boll.” Only a chapel remains of this once fashionable spa town. An information pavilion documents the history of the place. Straight ahead, we continue through an avenue to the “Felsenweiher” and the Tannegger Waterfall. From a wall of the upper muschelkalk, it drops 15 meters, forming bizarre deposits of tufa limestone. On the Ludwig-Neumann Trail, we walk 40 m high above the Wutach along the rock gallery. This steel cable-secured passage in the main muschelkalk is especially muddy after rainfall. Along the way, we reach the Stone Cross at Engländerfelsen, which commemorates the fatal fall of a boy over 100 years ago. The Ludwig-Neumann Trail leads us to the Schurhammer Hut with a barbecue area. Passing several infiltration points of the Wutach, we come to the Amselfelsen and finally cross the Wutach a second time on the flood-secure new Rümmele Footbridge, shortly afterwards passing the signpost “Inselwirts-Keller” again via the Bachheimer Footbridge. Up to the Gauchach Confluence, we walk along partly narrow and wet rock paths at the edge of the steep walls. Difficult passages are secured with steel cables. At the Kanadier Footbridge, we remain on the right side of the Wutach and reach the sawmill “Wutach Mill” on a gravel road after one kilometer, with bus stops and a kiosk on the opposite side of the Wutach. The cross-path leads over the street to “Achdorf (5.0 km),” then about 300 m alongside the country road up toward Ewattingen and then left into Unterer Maushaldenweg. This takes us into the forest, narrows to a path that leads downhill again toward the Wutach and immediately back up to a forest road. We follow it left to the “Wutach Bridge Überachen.” We stay on the right side of the Wutach until the “Wutach Bridge Achdorf,” where we cross the river and turn left again into the “Uferweg” (riverbank path). Straight ahead, Lindenstraße leads to the guesthouse Scheffellinde, made famous by poet Josef Victor von Scheffel. The cross-path turns right through Lindenstraße to the “town center,” where it parts from the Schluchtensteig long-distance trail. Now the East Trail accompanies us for a short distance. We turn left into Blumberger Straße, pass the Achdorf bus stop to the “Krottenbach Bridge,” then right up to the forest edge. The path briefly goes right and then left into the forest. In switchbacks, we climb steeply 200 m of elevation and reach a clearing with the “Fohlenstall (726 m),” the highest point of our hike today. Here the long-distance trails split. The cross-path continues straight ahead and parallel to the slope over the “Scheibenrain” to the outskirts of Blumberg. At the signpost, we turn right into the street “Am Eichberg,” left into Schießhüttenstraße, and right through Voglgasse to the main street to the “Gänseliesel.” We have reached the end of the stage on the cross-path in Blumberg. From the bus stop “Hauptstraße,” there are good connections toward Donaueschingen.