Erftal - Bauland - Round

From Hardheim Castle Square head towards the church, turn right at the fountain into Burggasse. Turn left onto Wertheimer Straße and after about 80 meters right into Doggenbrunnen lane. Before the Steinemühle, turn left and follow the path between gardens and the Erfa, passing the Eirich company complex up to the B27.
From here you can follow the signs of the Odenwald Madonnas Cycle Route to Höpfingen and Walldürn: Cross the B27 and go straight into Bahnhofstraße. After about 200 m, the path leads right into the Mühlgraben. The asphalted field path rises slightly, and soon the Höpfingen church tower is visible above the fields. The bike path turns left into Richard-Kaiser-Straße, then right into Am Wasserhäusle street, level into the Mantelsgraben, only becoming steeper near the exit of the village until the height near the B27 between Höpfingen and Walldürn is reached. Parallel to the federal highway, you roll with a view of the pilgrimage basilica towards Walldürn.

Cross the L577, after 800 m you reach a crossroads where several cycle routes meet. (To the right, the path leads into Walldürn town center.) At this junction, turn left and follow the Spelt Wheat Cycle Route towards Osterburken and Rinschheim. Pass the "Schweinepferch", part of the biotope nature trail circular path, through fields to a forest edge. At the fork, keep left, on a gravel forest path through the woods, first level and then uphill. On the crest, on the right, is a Holy Blood wayside shrine pointing to the blood miracle in Walldürn. From here the view sweeps far over the "homeland of spelt wheat." The path quickly descends into the valley to Altheim.

Following the signs to Sindolsheim and Rosenberg, you reach the first spelt drying barns in town on Altheimer Darrenstrasse. At the town exit, several more follow with a nicely designed rest area and the drying barn museum (visit by prior arrangement, Tourist & Leisure Information Walldürn, Tel. 06282 67105).
The path now runs level in the valley of the Kirnau. Before Sindolsheim, more drying barns can be seen before the bike path passes Sindolsheim Castle and meets the main road through the town. Turn left here and after 120 m in the left curve turn right into Marktstraße. Continue straight over a junction past the Sindolsheim dairy. After the sports ground, turn right onto the bike path to Rosenberg. The flat path leads through the meadows of the Kirnau to Gaimühle and over Industriestraße to Rosenberg. At the end of Industriestraße, turn right into Hermann-Hagenmeyer-Straße to the main street. Turn left over the railway tracks into the center. About 100 m after this railway crossing, opposite the town hall, follow the Main-Tauber-Franconian Bicycle Loop towards Bad Mergentheim and turn left onto Hirschlander Weg for this purpose. With easy rolling ups and downs to the right of the railway tracks, then through an underpass, you reach Hirschlanden in about 3.5 km.

After another 3 km on the cycle loop, go through the third railway underpass (about 300 m before L514) and turn left into Eubigheimer Straße to enter Hohenstadt. Follow the street through the town, after the large left curve turn right into Helmstheimer Straße. At the fork near the car workshop, keep left and steadily uphill past farms to the height. The climb is rewarded with a fantastic panoramic view of the region of our route. Before this is finally reached, there is another resting place at Helmstheimer Hof in the curious company of the pasture oxen of the Limpurger cattle breed bred there.
At the top, keep right on the connecting road and head towards Gerichtstetten. After a small dip, turn left after 1.4 km onto the gravel field path to reach the Celtic rampart in Zimmerwald. After 500 m, the path to the Celtic rampart is reached. The rampart cannot be ridden by bike and must be explored on foot. Back on the bike, immediately turn right towards the east on the level field path to the paved connecting road, then turn left towards the sports ground and descend the hill to Gerichtstetten.

In Gerichtstetten, a short stretch on the country road through the village and after 500 m at the church, turn right into Postweg. From here, the Erftal Mill Cycle Route towards Hardheim is signposted.
Through meadows, the path runs sometimes closer and sometimes further from the Erfa stream. At the first fork in Erfeld, a further spelt drying barn is located a few meters above the path. Here, keep left, then at the main road turn left again towards the church and directly in front of the church turn right back onto the bike path towards Bretzingen and Hardheim. From here the Erftal Mill Cycle Route lives up to its name – there are a total of seven mills on the way to Hardheim.
Between Erfeld and Bretzingen, a short break at the idyllic Fischersee is worthwhile before continuing towards Bretzingen. Before the entrance to Bretzingen, the path passes the Mittelmühle in the direction of the sports ground. Past the sports ground to the town center and cross the main street. Between gardens and stream, the bike path continues past the town. At Volksmühle, the path first turns right, crosses the Erfa, and then turns left into the Wacholderheiden nature reserve. Below the Muschelkalk meadows and heaths, the bike gently descends in the now wide valley of the Erfa to Hardheim. At the first junction in the reed, go straight through the small alley, then a wider street uphill to the main street. Turn right here and after a few meters left into Kolpingstraße. At the next crossing, turn left into Bürgermeister-Henn-Straße. Pass the sports hall and take the second street left into Schlossstraße back to the starting point.