Braunfels - Oak Leaf Path

We follow the oak leaf marking. Initially, the path leads along Tiefenbacher Street past the ice pond on the right. At the forest edge, we turn left. The path leads through the Braunfels pond area past the long and round pond. The two ponds, connected by a flow, are also called warm ponds. In particular, the smaller of the two ponds represents a special feature as a karst spring site. 25 liters per second rise from the karst with a constant water temperature of 12 degrees. This causes the ponds to be quite cool in summer and not to freeze in winter. Thus, the kingfisher has found a refuge here, enabling it to fish even in winter.

The large pond adjoins the warm ponds, which around the turn of the century was used for winter festivals and boat rides. Today it is a popular fishing pond. At the end of the large pond, we turn right and pass the campsite with the park tavern, which invites you to rest with its beer garden. Then the path ascends. On the hill, a wonderful view of Braunfels Castle opens up on the left. The path continues along the forest edge to the hiking car park. Here we turn right and continue to follow the oak leaf marking. The path leads through the Braunfels forest. We pass a pre-Christian stone setting that could once have served as a cult site. The path then continues through the forest until we again reach Tiefenbacher Street. We turn right and follow the street. After some time, we see on the opposite side of the street to the left a rock edge in which the so-called Rhinoceros Cave is located. In this rock crevice, the bones of an ice age woolly rhinoceros were found. Finally, we return to our starting point.