12 - Around Buch

On the Auf Buch ridge southeast of Bad Urach-Hengen, once stood the mightiest and most beautiful beeches of the Swabian Jura. Unfortunately, these mighty old trees had to be felled. New ones were planted in their place at that time. The hiking parking lot Auf Buch, the starting point of our circular hiking trail, lies by this beech group.
The first part of our route runs on a well-walkable concrete track path, which we owe to land consolidation. To the right of the path is the wooded slope of the Hundsloch, a forest extension of the Fischburg valley, through which the Bad Urach-Seeburg – Bad Urach-Hengen road runs.
To the left of our path stretches the Buch mountain peninsula with its agricultural fields. Where the concrete track path ends, a dirt road begins that lies on clayey ground. It is often swampy in wet weather. Walking it requires good footwear in all conditions. This dirt road leads into the Kesselberg forest and there meets a hiking trail coming from the Fischburg valley, marked by a yellow triangle. We turn left onto this path and come to the forest edge. After about 400 m, a wide forestry road branches off to the right. It leads to the Känzele, a presumably prehistoric fortification above the Bruck valley.
The path there (about 350 m) is an interesting detour. Those who want to skip this continue along the forest edge and reach the tennis courts. After reaching them, we turn left again onto a wide driveway along the forest edge. Passing the sports grounds of the Sportfreunde Hengen and the Auf Buch forest area, we return to the hiking parking lot and finish our hike “around Buch.”