After a few weeks of absence from the forest we are planning another day trip. For this we have chosen a tour around the town of Schramberg in the Black Forest. It’s not a really long tour, but a bit longer than the daily walks with Lando!
We travel there by car and try to park in Schramberg at first, because the tour passes right through the city. Soon we realise that this is not a good idea as parking spaces are scarce and parking is only allowed for short periods of time. After another look at the map we make out a small hikers’ parking lot near the Lauterbach waterfalls. Generally we can recommend this parking place, only currently there is a construction site there, so that we have to take the next parking spot and then walk back for about ten minutes.
If you walk attentively through the forest, you will recognise the work of many foresters
We start the tour around noon and walk counterclockwise. After a short ascent we turn directly into the forest and onto a great little path. High above the road you can easily distinguish the different owners of the forest we are walking through. Partly we walk through a pure spruce field, then suddenly it is a mixed forest again. Sometimes the trees stand in a row and sometimes they are mixed up randomly. It’s fascinating what you can discover if you keep your eyes open a little. Also there are many douglas firs hidden in the forest along this route. So it might be worth looking up the look of the cone and the bark of the douglas fir on the internet for you to recognise it in nature!
From the Black Forest high above Schramberg we have beautiful views of the city
In between, we frequently catch a glimpse down into the valley to the town of Schramberg. The autumnal atmosphere is already noticeable and there are many mushrooms to discover in the forest.
The round trip is part of a couple of trails called “Genießerpfade”, maybe best translated as “trails for a connoisseur”. They are fantastically signposted. Actually you don’t need another map if you know that you will always stay on this path.
After about four kilometers we reach the ruins of Falkenstein Castle. A short detour is definitely worthwhile, a board tells us a little about the history of the castle and at the press of a button a room with old furniture and knight’s armour is illuminated. From the top you also have a good view over Schramberg and into the Black Forest. Starting from the ruins, the trail leads downhill to the little river Schiltach. Arriving at the valley below, we discover that there would have been another track, which would have let us also pass the ruins of the lower castle Falkenstein. Those who wish to visit the lower castle should consider this at the ruins of Falkenstein and choose the other path there. Shortly below the ruin both paths meet again.
We really do get into a sweat as we climb high above the chapel
On the other side of the valley we pass a small chapel and afterwards a quite challenging climb awaits us. But it is worth to take a breather every now and then and enjoy the view! Since the sky is getting cloudy and we have not packed any rain jackets, we hurry up and pass this part of the route quite fast. Only once we stop to watch the caterpillar of the willow borer. It is impressively large with a length of about 10cm!
The three-castle view of the ruins of the Falkenburg, the lower Falkenburg and the castle Hohenschramberg, which is marked on the map, is apparently not signposted in the forest. We find the view of all three ruins anyway, but it does not impress us much, as the castles are quite far away. The way down into the valley to Schramberg leads us through the Park of the Times. It has a great old number of trees and many explanations about fauna and flora. If the rain hadn’t caught up with us in the meantime, we would probably have walked a little slower through the park.
It’s raining hard so we decided to cut short
In the end it is also due to the rain that we decide against the planned ascent to the castle ruin Hohenschramberg and instead walk on a direct way through Schramberg back to the parking lot. We pass the headquarters of the watch manufacturer Junghans, the ‘Terrassenhaus’, which looks architecturally exciting. It is also possible to visit it, perhaps we will do so on our next visit, together with the missed tour of Hohenschramberg Castle.
Last but not least we have a short visit to the Lauterbach waterfalls. They are located right next to the parking lot on the highway, but you won’t notice that at the waterfalls themselves. The water of the Lauterbach flows down idyllically between moss-covered stones and dead wood lying around. Meanwhile the weather has become really uncomfortable, so that we are glad to get into the car a few minutes later and turn on the heating!
