ALBTAL.Views | Athletic variant

Stage 1

We start our tour at the castle square. Behind the castle, we cross the S-Bahn line and follow the road to Horbachsee. We turn left and follow the Horbach valley to the Horbach spring. From there, the path gradually ascends gently, rewarding us with fantastic views of the Rhine valley and as far as the Palatinate Forest, Odenwald, and the Vosges. Via Wagenhohl, Hannesberg, Dreimarkstein, Sommerberg, Redoute, and Benjeshecke we reach the forest edge at the height near Spessart. From here, our view goes east towards Spielberg and Etzenrot. We walk through the village of Spessart and further down the valley over the Windwiesen, Windwiesenklinge, Frühbusch, and Römerstraße to the legendary Toter-Mann-Stein near Fischweier. At the Toter-Mann-Stein, we cross on the Moosalb bridge. On the opposite side of the Moosalb, we climb up at Hornkopf to Burbach / an der Linde. Above Burbach, we pass the Wiesenhof Icelandic horse stud, from where an incomparable view over Dobel and Pforzheim to Stromberg and the Zabergäu opens up. Via Mittelberger Wegle, Klosterwald, Breithofweg, and Kreuzweg we reach the Metzlinschwander Hof, the last remnant of the village of Metzlinschwand, probably abandoned in the 16th century due to lack of water. The last part of the path leads us over Küblerschlag, Am Glockenweg, Klostersteige, Lickbrunnen, and Bernbacher Steige to our stage destination for today, Frauenalb.

Stage 2

We start at the Frauenalb train station and walk past Frauenalb monastery to Bernbacher Steige. It goes steeply uphill to Frauenalber Steigle and further over Ziegelbuckel and Großklosterwald to Braxmeier Bildstock. Then continuing over Mittelberg and Upper Moosalb valley to Moosbronn / Lindenbrunnen. Via Moosbronn Kirchweg, Moosbronn cemetery, and Hildebrandbrunnen we reach the Mahlberg tower. We continue on the path over Mönchskopfsattel, Richard-Massinger-Weg, Alte Landesgrenze and Wasenhütte to the Tannschach barbecue area near Bernbach. From there, we hike over Mauzenstein and Gagenauer Weg to Bernstein with its magnificent viewing rock. The last part of the path takes us over Am Mauzenberg, Rennbergfels and Bad Herrenalb Rehteich to our stage destination, the train station in Bad Herrenalb.

Stage 3

From the train station in Bad Herrenalb, our path initially leads us over Bad Herrenalb Rehteich and Bad Herrenalb center to the ruins of the Cistercian monastery Bad Herrenalb with its famous pine tree on the monastery wall of Paradise. At Wurstberg, we reach the spring experience trail, which we follow until we reach the Sandgrube via the Albtal hunting lodge. There, we change to the quality trail "Wildcat Forest Experience," circle the bird meadows and stay on the path up to the Talwiese ski lodge. Then it goes over Hülsgraben and Axtloh steeply uphill to the Hahnenfalz hut. Once on the Westweg, we hike to the Weithäusleplatz. Over Stierhütte, Mehlwegle, Pfützenhäusle, and Brenntenwald, we descend to the Dobeltal wildlife enclosure. Since the remaining section of today's stage is not signposted, we now have to rely on the map and GPS device. We follow the Dobelbach upstream. After Neuwiesenhof, the path leads back into the forest and gently ascends to the sports field at Neusatz. Across the high plateau with a magnificent view, we finally reach our stage destination for today, Rotensol.

Stage 4

We start today's stage in Rotensol heading north and turn left after about 100 meters towards the forest edge. After a short time, we reach the Neusatz - Rotensol height circular trail, which we follow over Rotensoler Heide and Neusatzer Höhe to Neusatzer Pfütze. From there, we continue via Katzenweg, Frauenwäldle, and Dobel Birkengrund to Dobel schoolhouse. When we pass through the Westweg portal at the Kurhaus, we already see the observation tower. At the observation tower, we turn left onto Höhenstraße. Over Dobel Eiche, Reutäcker, and Enge Türle, we reach Volzemer Stein. We stay on the Westweg. It turns left, skirts the village of Dennach and brings us past Herzogswiesen to Schwanner Warte. Along the glider airfield, it continues to the Axtbachtal parking lot. The next stations are Hasenstock, Pfinzweiler Burgwiesen, Pfinzhof, Freiäcker, and Ittersbach Pfinztalstraße. From Ittersbach, we follow the signposts Tornadostein, Bienenstand, Hermannsee, Bocksbachsteg, and Kurfürstenbad to the Saint Barbara chapel. The last part of the path finally leads us over AVG bridge, Am Grenzweg, Am Buchschlagweg, and Odenwiesen to the stop Kurpark. Just a short walk through the spa park and we have reached the destination of our four-day hike, Schwitzer's Hotel am Park in Waldbronn.