Circular trail 9 - Weidenthal - Mollenkopf

We follow the hiking trail number 9. (black 9 on white sign) 

From the train stop it goes up the Sensental to the end of the paved road. From there you enter the forest. Via the stamp trail it goes into the Weißenbach. A bit down the road we are again among the trees. On the way lies the memorial stone "Peter-Brünnel (1939)". Arrived at the "Morschbacher Weiher" you can take a rest on numerous benches. At the pond you will find several sights: The memorial stone "Albert-Host-Eiche; the fountain named after his wife "Elsa Host Fountain (1955)" and a memorial stone for the longtime district forester Hans Stuhlfauth. In bad weather, this place also offers a shelter. 

After the rest it continues towards Morschbacherhof, where the oldest forest cemetery in Rhineland-Palatinate is located. The next point where you can have a snack is the "Taubenplatz". From 349m above sea level it now goes up to Weidenthal's highest point, the "Mollenkopf". This mountain has a height of 507m above sea level. At Mollenkopf there are 2 stones from a school project of the VG-Lambrecht "On the trails of the Celts". The "Stone of Encounter" and the "Dolmen". 

From the highest point descended, we now stand before the cultural monument "Henkmantels Loog". This is a very old four lordship boundary stone. Also before our next stop with a rest area, the "Esthaler Benches", stands a very old boundary stone. It is not quite as old but separates 3 municipalities. A "triangle boundary stone". At this point you have the choice to take the long circular route or the short half. The short route goes directly down into the Weißenbach and from there via the stamp trail to the train stop.

We continue the large loop and go towards Heidenkopf along the border between Esthal and Weidenthal. We come across the main field path and can see the Ritterstein Heidenbrunnen 100 Schritte . It indicates that the Heidenbrunnen is reachable in 100 steps. It is worth planning this small detour. Further along the path you reach the car park "Eselsohl". This is also a good starting point to walk the circular route. We now walk towards Weidenthal, passing the old wildlife wall across the Maifeld. You can still see where the "Goat Path" used to run. From the Maifeld it goes to the stamp trail and further through the Sensental to the train stop in Weidenthal. 

The entire 21 km can be walked as a figure eight, or as described as a large loop with 15.7 km. You can also split the route into 2 smaller loops. Via car park Eselsohl and Maifeld = 10.8 km, or via the Mollenkopf = 11.5 km. Weißenbach to Esthaler Benches is the section that divides the figure eight.