Regen and forest around Marienthal

Our day route starts at the parking lot in front of Gasthaus Wittmann. On the left side we find a panoramic map of the region, past which we walk and take the path through the village. Here we encounter the marking "Red triangle on a white background", which will accompany us on our route. The houses soon lie behind us and we reach the Marienkapelle at the edge of the forest. On a path, we hike up the Gailenberg to the Franzenshöhe. In the lower part, we cross a forest road three times. Then the path leads us through a magnificent beech forest directly to the summit. There are now 200 meters in altitude between us and the starting point at the inn in Marienthal. On the Franzenshöhe we find a stone rotunda, built at the beginning of the 20th century and used as a viewpoint, but now overgrown. We use the Peilstein for a good view of the surrounding area. A path leads us west from the rotunda to this rock, from where, in good weather, we can see as far as Schwandorf and over the Upper Palatinate lake district. After this detour, we continue on the gently descending gravel path southwards and reach a junction. Here we find a covered rest area and can take a break. Our path continues straight ahead to a fork that leads us to the right into the now thickening forest. We walk over another crossing past large groups of boulders, going up the Hohenstein. There we find a signpost to the Riedelhöhe. We turn left on the path and discover the masonry lookout tower, which dates from the same era as the structure on the Franzenshöhe. After climbing the tower, we return to the path and shortly afterwards reach the wobbling stone on the right side. Strong hikers can make this granite block wobble with a chain. After these two sights, the path takes us to another junction where we now turn left. A sign points us to Grafenwinn here. Shortly afterwards the path forks. We keep right and walk on the gravel path through splendid mixed forest over another crossing, following the marking "Red triangle on a white background". At a fork, we keep left and leave the forest for the first time onto a meadow. Shortly afterwards, we reach a street and the village of Grafenwinn on it. At the chapel, we turn left. At the hamlet Hirtberg, we keep left again and reach Dürmaul. Passing the small cross on a stone pedestal, we now hike the hill up again. At the beginning of the forest, we leave the street and walk right over the path to a forest road, which leads us left along the flank of the Jugenberg. Soon we meet the street again and follow it. We continue past orchard meadows through Gunt to Hof. In the village center, we can visit the castle "Hof am Regen" from the 12th century. At the fire station we turn left and at the following junction keep right. We reach Stefling and go up the unpaved road at the crucifix. Here we have the opportunity to take a look inside the castle. Leaving the village to the west on the bike path, we reach an iron bridge over the Regen river, which we cross. Behind the bridge, we take the path to the left and hike along the bank of the Regen. Through the hamlet Weißenhof we reach a ferry landing. There we have to call the ferryman who finally transports us to the inn. Here, we have earned a generous snack and can recover from the efforts of our day route.