Clausenseetour

Once at the top, you no longer follow the road but continue straight on towards the forest. At the foot of the Enzenbühl (437 m), popularly known as the "Kreuzberg", you will find a beautiful seating area and a small altar, which already indicates the start of the Way of the Cross with its numerous stations and sculptures. After about 250 meters of path, you turn left and climb steeply up to the "Kreuzberg", which, in addition to the Way of the Cross, also houses the "Heilig Kreuz" chapel and another seating area. Shortly before the chapel of this local place of pilgrimage, turn right onto a natural stone staircase. The path now initially leads to the left past further Stations of the Cross before branching off to the right again. Shortly before you reach the first houses, turn right again onto a narrow path to the northeast. After about 350 meters, you leave this path via a zigzag path downhill in a northerly direction.

The zigzag path then joins a forest path, which you follow to the east and then to the south. After about 300 meters, turn left to reach the "Busche-Brunnen" barbecue area, which can be rented from the Busche-Brunnen-Verein for celebrations and events. The "Busche-Brunnen" fountain, which is also located here, gives its name to the area with its shelter and various seating and play areas. This is a beautiful fountain surrounded by sandstone elements.

Shortly before the barbecue area, however, turn right onto a short path that leads to a forest path, which you follow in an easterly direction past the Saufelsen rock. From the Saufelsen rock, follow a path in a south-westerly direction that leads to a slightly wider path. Stay on this U-shaped path for about 400 meters before you reach the asphalt Gräfensteiner-Land cycle path and turn left onto it.

After about 400 meters, there is a peace cross and a memorial plaque on the right-hand side of the cycle path. Both commemorate the removal of chemical weapons by the US armed forces in 1990 (Lindwurm) and warn humanity against war, violence and destruction. Here you leave the cycle path to take a 600-metre detour south-west through beautiful, light-flooded mixed woodland to the Schwabfelsen viewpoint.

After about 800 meters along paths and trails in a north-easterly direction, you cross the cycle path again and follow a parallel path for about 100 meters, which leads steadily to the north-east. After about 1,300 meters, you finally turn north and reach the Clausen solar park via an asphalt path about 400 meters long. This was built as an exemplary conversion project on the site of a former US chemical weapons depot and went into operation in 2012. With its gigantic output of green electricity (3 million kilowatt hours per year) and its CO2 savings of 2,500 tons per year, it makes the municipality of Clausen more than climate-neutral in purely mathematical terms. At times, the site is appropriately kept free of vegetation by grazing sheep. All in all, a sustainable and exemplary eco-project!

From here, turn right onto a narrow, approximately 300-metre-long path that leads downhill, initially turning from north to southeast. It leads into a slightly wider path, on which you keep to the right for a few meters before turning left onto a natural path. Follow this for around 1,400 meters - steadily downhill - in a northerly direction.

Once in the valley, it then joins a wide path leading west. After about 400 meters, you will reach the Fischerhaus restaurant and the entrance to the beach at the idyllic Clausensee campsite (entrance fee applies). Here - about two thirds of the way along the trail - you can take a break, enjoy the cool water, go pedal boating, rowing or SUPing and/or stop for a bite to eat in the restaurant, its beer garden or under the wine umbrella.

Back on the trail, the route now heads west through the beautiful Schwarzbachtal valley. Again and again you can catch glimpses of the romantic Schwarzbach stream with its riverside plants and the extensive valley with its marshy meadows. After around 2,500 meters, directly after the PWV Waldfischbach hut, which is not open to the public, you finally cross the forest road to Clausen and - past the small ponds of the Hollertal valley - turn left onto a narrow path after a further 200 meters. This leads through beautiful forests along the mountain slope for about 700 meters steeply up to the first houses on Schwarzbachstraße.

Once back in Clausen, it is only a few minutes via Schwarzbachstrasse and the main road - past the Gilley signpost, which commemorates the partnership with the French community - back to the starting point at the "Hawebrunnen".If you like and have an appetite or thirst, you can also stop off at the nearby pizzeria and restaurant "Castello " and round off this all-round successful hike in comfort.