Four-Castle Trail

At the starting point by the town hall on the marketplace, there is an information board with details about the route. Here we cross the street and walk parallel to the blue diamond over Kronenstraße to the signpost "Killweg" . We continue following the blue diamond, which accompanies us to the Nördlinger Hut. On the footpath, we walk past the "Catholic Church" to the Schlosswaldeck, where there is a children's playground. On the Schlossweg, we reach after half an hour's walk the Vörbach castle ruins with the charming "Nördlinger Hut" of the Schwarzwaldverein Pfalzgrafenweiler (not managed). We continue following the marking and descend below the hut down the “Zick-Zackweg” into the Waldach valley. At the signpost "Schlosswiese" , we turn left over the covered bridge and then stroll past the Silberbrünnele through a quiet and romantic valley. We cross two forest roads and ascend an old cart track into the spruce forest. After 3.8 km and one hour of walking, we reach the Mantelberg castle ruins. We go past the observation tower on the left to the signpost "Mantelberg" and descend below the ruins on a narrow path into the Waldach valley (caution in wet weather). At the path junction in the valley floor (signpost "Bösinger Wasserhäusle" ), we meet the blue diamond coming from the left, following which we cross the Waldach over the wooden footbridge. The decommissioned Bösinger Wasserhäusle now attracts our attention. This historic building was completely renovated in 1999 by committed citizens of Bösingen and thus remains preserved for future generations as an industrial monument. The path leads left on the valley road to the signpost „Döbele“ , then right uphill into the fields of the Neu-Nuifra district. At the signpost "Kohläcker" , we leave the blue diamond and reach after 6 km and 2 hours of walking "Neu - Nuifra" . The view back to the tower of the Mantelberg ruins and the beautiful landscape quickly make you forget all the effort of the climb. With about 100 inhabitants, Neu - Nuifra is the smallest district of Pfalzgrafenweiler, located in a rural idyll. Opportunities for refreshment exist at the Schwarzwaldblick inn and Adler guesthouse. We walk through the village and cross Vörbacher Street at the village edge. At the forest edge (signpost "Missihof" ), we walk 40 m to the left and follow the blue diamond and the Kirschbäumlesweg to the right. At the signpost "Spitalwald" , we walk straight ahead and climb steeply through the forest. At a clearing on the ridge, we walk 80 m to the right on a grass path to the Alemanni graves (note the signage "Alemannengräber" ). Returning to the clearing, we walk straight ahead through beautiful mixed forest and turn right after 250 m onto the straight forest road. We walk down this for 1 km until the Spitalsträßle. We follow this left until we have a surprisingly beautiful view from the forest edge of the former Heiligenbronn monastery with its pilgrimage church “To the Sorrowful Mother of God” over 250 years old. The path now leads along the forest edge to the first houses of the Waldachtal holiday settlement. At the table tennis court, we continue following the markings and walk along a meadow at the forest edge to the TV antenna. Please pay close attention to the markings! On the forest path downhill on the right, we reach Waldeck, the first houses of Oberwaldach with a beautiful view of the Waldachtal and the Sonnenhof sanatorium in Lützenhardt. Here we head right on a grass path along the forest edge to a forest road, continue straight on this and then descend half-left after 130 m into the Waldachtal. At the former Rüdenberg sawmill, now an architecture office, we cross the road and come to the signpost "Rüdenberg" . After a steep, somewhat strenuous climb, we see the wall remains of the former Rüdenberg tower castle. Past the ruins, we go uphill and reach an access road, which we follow to the right. We walk on the paved forest road to the signpost "Sandebene" and further to the crossroads "Blöcherweg" . Where the forest ends (signpost "Weiherbach" ) and the pastures begin, we walk in a long S-curve (Jubilee path) through the valley floor of the Weiherbächle. On the paved field road, we walk uphill to the first houses of Pfalzgrafenweiler and reach the site of the former Pfalzgrafenweiler castle (only a grassy mound remains). We climb the Lehnle uphill and turn right into Burgstraße. We follow this downhill past the sports hall to the starting point at the town hall on the marketplace.