Gäu.Rand.Weg

Stages of the Gäu.Rand.Weg

1st stage:                                                 
Mühlacker-Tiefenbronn: 19 km - 461 m ascent
From the Enz valley near Mühlacker, the Gäurandweg leads up to the heights of the Heckengäu landscape first to Pinache. There, Waldensian religious refugees from Piedmont were settled in the 17th century. By accepting the displaced persons, Duke Eberhard Ludwig of Württemberg hoped for a revival of the regional culture. Neuhengstett and Perouse are further Waldensian villages in Heckengäu.
Via Wiernsheim and Friolzheim, the hiker reaches Tiefenbronn with its famous art treasure in the parish church, the Magdalene altar by Lucas Moser from the 15th century.

2nd stage:
Tiefenbronn-Stammheim: 26.5 km - 590 m ascent
From Tiefenbronn, the path leads down to the Würm and then up the other side to Steinegg. Here the hiker is in buntsandstein (colored sandstone) for the first time since the beginning of the hike, into which the Würm has cut its valley.
Between Neuhausen and Lehningen, the Gäurandweg runs towards Büchelberg near Münklingen. The Büchelberg is the outermost foothill of the main shell limestone between the Würm and the Nagold. The landscape here is strongly shaped by the erosion work of the two rivers, so that individual hills could form. The Büchelberg (550 m) and the nearby Kuppelzen (527 m) stand out particularly. A section of the "Landgraben" runs between the two elevations, which was laid out in the 15th century to delimit the Württemberg territory.
From Büchelberg there is a nice view west to the Northern Black Forest, north over the Hagenschieß near Klarsicht to the Odenwald and southeast to the Swabian Jura. The trail continues, alternating over fields and through forest, past Möttlingen, to Simmozheim. Past the hamlet Büchelbronn, in a wide arc past Althengstett, the trail finally leaves the catchment area of the Würm and leads down to Calw-Stammheim.

3rd stage:
Stammheim - Nagold: 25 km - 714 m ascent
Over the Daumen (609 m) which juts out toward the Nagold valley, between Holzbronn situated in a shallow basin and the Deckenpfronn Lerchenberg, the hiking trail leads to Gültlingen. Here finds from early Alemannic times were made in several burial grounds. Famous is a splendid helmet from a princely grave from the late 5th century, which, like the other weapons and jewelry, is now in the Landesmuseum Stuttgart.
The ascent from Gültlingen to the south toward Gültlinger Kapf is steep. Here the edge of the main shell limestone is climbed, before the path descends to Sulz am Eck and subsequently climbs again to Sulzer Eck, standing 200 m above the Nagold.
From Sulzer Eck, the Gäurandweg runs along the high edge of the eastern Nagold valley slope, about 100 m higher than the opposite western valley slope, to Kühlenberg (observation tower) near Emmingen and further over the heights to Jettingen water tower. The magnificent view from the water tower stretches over wide parts of the Northern Black Forest and the Gäu to the Swabian Jura. (The tower is only open to hiking groups by prior arrangement.)

4th stage:
Nagold - Waldachtal-Salzstetten: 27 km - 978 m ascent
From here, the path now descends to Nagold, the first town the hiker reaches since the beginning of the Gäurandweg. At the junction of Black Forest and Heckengäu lies Nagold at the confluence of the Nagold and Waldach rivers. Nagold has “dressed up” a lot in recent years and relocated much of the traffic out of the city center. A beautiful half-timbered town that invites you to linger and offers several sights.
The hiking trail leads from the town up to Schloßberg, to the castle ruin Hohennagold, from where there is a very nice view over the town at the "Nagold knee" and the upper Nagold valley. From the castle ruin, the path continues northwest to Rohrdorf. Here, the Gäurandweg crosses the Nagold and leads the hiker past Walddorf onto the Egenhauser Kapf. The Egenhauser Kapf is a special jewel and protected as a nature reserve with its juniper heath and semi-dry grasslands. The hiker is also offered a magnificent view of the Black Forest, the Nagold-Enz plateau and the Swabian Jura.
Via Beihingen in the Waldachtal it goes to Haiterbach, the southernmost community in Calw district. The stream flowing through the town bears the same name as the small town. Haiterbach was first documented in 1099 at the consecration of Alpirsbach Monastery. From Haiterbach, the path leads via Staudach (634 m) westward to Salzstetten, a district of the municipality Waldachtal.

5th stage:
Waldachtal-Salzstetten - Freudenstadt:  22.5 km - 631 m ascent
In the “Altheimer Holy Forest,” the hiker crosses the district border to the district of Freudenstadt. From Salzstetten, the path passes above Waldachtal-Tumlingen to the Rödelsberg (718 m) near Schopfloch. This striking viewpoint on the water reservoir offers a very beautiful view east and south over the Swabian Jura, from Hohenzollern to Dreifaltigkeitsberg, clear view to the Swiss Alps from Säntis to Mont Blanc. To the west and north, over the Black Forest, from Farren- and Brandenkopf to Hornisgrinde. This view should not be missed.
From Schopfloch, it then goes down into the valley of the Glatt, to the town of Glatten near Dornstetten. There, the hiking trail follows the valley of the Lauter river up to the Freudenstadt district Lauterbad and leads through the Palm forest to the large marketplace of Freudenstadt with its arcades and water features. Here ends the impressive and eventful hiking route through the Heckengäu “From the Enz to the Glatt” or to Freudenstadt.