Ermstal Fruit Cycle Path

Our bike tour starts in the town center of Neckartenzlingen and initially follows the L1208b towards Bempflingen. There you have the option to follow the cycle path towards Riederich or to reach Metzingen via Kleinbettlingen and Grafenberg.

The second option is especially enticing, offering beautiful viewpoints such as Grafenberg or Floriansberg, and the arboretum with a large number of different tree species is also worth a detour.

If you choose the route towards Riederich, you again have the option to turn off towards Grafenberg there. You can also go directly through the town center to Metzingen, or take a detour to the wild and orchard educational trail located between Riederich and Mittelstadt, then follow the route west of the B312 from there.

All cycle paths meet again in the outlet city of Metzingen, which invites you to stroll. A worldwide unique ensemble is the seven cider presses at Kelternplatz, which still testify to Metzingen's viticultural importance, experienced today in the wine museum.                                                                                                                                                                           Yet even today, successful wine cultivation continues on the slopes around Hofbühl. The core of these vineyards is of volcanic origin (Swabian volcano), which is why basalt tuff is also found inside. The cultivation area lies east of the cycle path towards Neuhausen and Dettingen.

However, orchard cultivation in the Ermstal is far more significant than viticulture. To learn more about this, it is advisable to follow the cycle path towards Glems, via the nature trail. Glems is surrounded by orchards, so it is only logical that educational trails on cherries and pears are set up here. A fruit-growing highlight is the Fruit Tree Museum in Glems, which informs about the management and origin of the Swabian orchards.

The cycle path via Glems meets again at the historic town center of Dettingen an der Erms with the cycle path coming from Neuhausen. 

The path continues from Dettingen through orchards to Bad Urach, a state-recognized spa town and health resort. In the cold season, a stop at Baden-Württemberg's hottest thermal spring, the Alb Therme, is recommended. This can be found right at the entrance to Bad Urach. There is also, somewhat hidden, a path branching off that leads under a bridge to the teaching and demonstration garden of the Fruit and Gardening Association. Before the town center, the path splits, with the western path bypassing the historic town center. This is very worth seeing due to its charming half-timbered houses and the castle.                                                                                                                                       However, even today, successful wine cultivation continues on the slopes around Hofbühl. The core of these vineyards is volcanic in origin (Swabian volcano), which is why basalt tuff can also be found inside. The cultivation area lies east of the cycle path to Neuhausen and Dettingen.

Both routes meet further south at the town exit towards Münsingen again (at the train station), where the Erms has shaped the narrow Seeburger Valley.

Along this, the cycle path passes by rocks, ruins, and caves, with the Hohen Wittlingen castle ruins and the Schiller Cave (fictional setting of the novel Rulaman) being particularly noteworthy. About halfway along the valley, there are fish ponds that attract anglers from afar.                                                                                                                                                

The path continues through Seeburg, a quaint village where the Fischbach flows into the Erms. From Seeburg begins the steepest part of the stage, through the Trailfinger Valley, which is bordered by hillside beech and slope debris forests, a unique natural feature of the Swabian Alb biosphere reserve. At the valley's end springs the Erms.

Upon reaching the Alb plateau, the path forks in Trailfingen, with the southern path leading to Münsingen. From Münsingen you have a connection to the Swabian Alb railway, which runs regularly between Schelklingen and Gammertingen. If you turn east, you cycle along the former military training area to the stage's destination, the Old Camp.                                                                        

The Old Camp is a former military accommodation from the imperial period protected as a monument. Since the military left and the biosphere reserve was established, the Biosphere Center Swabian Alb has been housed there. Through an interactive exhibition, visitors can learn all about topics related to the Swabian Alb biosphere reserve. Besides the biosphere center, the Old Camp also serves as the office for the Geopark association and various universities for research purposes.