Black Forest North Rim Trail 3: from Langensteinbach to Durlach

From Langensteinbach railroad station, we first walk unmarked through Gotenstraße to Hauptstraße, turn right there and then turn left to reach the signpost at the "Rathaus" (250 m), the administrative center of Karlsbad. We continue along the Nordrandweg trail through Hirtenstraße, past beautiful half-timbered houses, to the "Gasthaus Anker" and then cross Pforzheimer Straße. You could now take a detour to the left to Ludwigskirche church and the half-timbered Conrath house. At the next junction, turn left along Wilferdinger Straße, past St. Barbara's Church to the " Rappenbuschparking lot " and then left into the forest.

The Rappenbuschweg leads north in the forest, past the "Rappenbusch" site to a hut, where we turn left to reach the Bocksbach valley (226 m) at the end of the forest. We cross the stream on the dam of the rainwater retention basin and shortly afterwards the state road 563. To the left along the edge of the forest, the Steinigweg climbs again to 275 m above sea level. We are also aware of the steadily increasing traffic noise from the nearby Autobahn 8, towards whose junction Karlsbad we are heading. Shortly before we reach the "Oberer Steinig" signpost, we pass the Stupferich barbecue area. From here, we enjoy our first view of the mountains of the northern Black Forest. Then we head straight on into the forest. Within sight of the highway junction, we turn right, cross the E 52 and follow it for 300 m from the "Im Steinig" signpost before entering the dense forest on the left again. We bypass the village of Stupferich past "Gansäcker" and reach the highest point of the tour at the water tank (279 m).

Walking downhill, we enter the forest again and then keep left at the edge of the forest until we reach Kleinsteinbacher Straße, which we have to cross. From the lowest point of the hike so far (196 m), we now walk along the district boundary on the Stupfericher Grenzweg to the "Dreimärker" crossroads and continue along the edge of the forest to the "Thomashof/Forsthaus" site (265 m). On the way we come across old boundary stones with the Baden coat of arms.

At Thomashof, we look south over the hills of the northern Black Forest from Mahlberg (612 m) over the Schwanner Warte (475 m) to Pforzheim.

Before the Thomashof, the Nordrandweg turns right into the Rittnertwald forest to the "Sonnenberg Richtstatt" and then left to the "Rittnerthof" at the edge of the forest. To the north, we look into the Pfinztal valley, which is also the border to the Kraichgau region. We are still in sandstone here, while the shell limestone begins on the opposite side of the Pfinz.

We reach the fork in the path at the "Schützenhaus" via open terrain on field paths. On the way to the Turmberg, the Karlsruhe forest rope park is on the right.

Finally we reach the "Turmberg Bergstation" (245 m). From the observation tower, at a height of 277 m, we can look out over the city of Karlsruhe.

From Karlsruhe's local mountain, we now descend over 100 meters steeply to Durlach: either on foot via the 528 steps of the Hexenstäffele or by funicular. In either case, we walk slightly downhill from the valley station of the Turmbergbahn on the Bergbahnstraße to the "final stop" of the streetcar in Durlach. There we cross the B 3 and follow the streetcar tracks along Grötzingerstraße and Pfinztalstraße into the town center. On the left is Karlsburg Castle with the Pfinzgaumuseum.

The walk from the city center to Karlsruhe-Durlach station is about 1 km. At the end of Pfinztalstraße, we walk through Wilmar-Schwabe-Straße.