We all know the song – ‘If you in down to the woods today, you are in for a big surprise…’ – well I am yet to see any teddy bears having a picnic in the Black Forest, but you do have a good chance to see black squirrels!
Until researching through an old walking book on the Black Forest, I had never heard of black squirrels. So following the book’s advice, I headed to one of Germany’s highest waterfalls – at Triberg in Schwarzwald. There is a small fee to pay to enter the woodland park around the waterfalls, with some booths selling bags of nuts – and this is the best place I can recommend to get close to the very dark brown cousins of the reds – who can be seen in this park too. Another sight of note is found a few kilometres to the north of Triberg: the largest cuckoo clock in the world!
To the west of Triberg is the Westweg – the Black Forest’s main long-distance path running like a spine through the area. It starts in the north at Pforzheim (near Stuttgart) and heads south to Basel in Switzerland. At Titisee-Neustadt the southern route splits into two before you reach Basel. The full length of the Westweg is either 279km, via the western trail, or 287km, via the eastern trail. All the main trails in the Black Forest are easy to follow as they are well signposted and have a variety of coloured symbols; the most used symbol is a horizontal diamond like the red one given to the Westweg.
One Westweg section I do plan to do in the future is on the part of the 14km route between Feldberg and Schauinsland, where there are the two main peaks of the region. Feldberg is the highest summit in the area at 1,493 metres, but at 1,284 metres, Schauinsland is the more appealing one! It also has the advantage of having a very long cable car – the Schauinslandbahn – and after your ride of 3.6km, you can take a bus and tram journey into the main place of civilisation in the Black Forest – the University city of Freiburg in Breisgau.
Freiburg’s Aldstadt is easy to walk around as it is compact and mainly traffic free with a good public transport network of trams and buses. The focal point is the sandstone Munster (cathedral) with its wonderful stained glass windows and one-handed clock on its tower (that seems forever clad in scaffolding!). In-between some pavements you will see the Bächle – water channels that used to supply the city, but nowadays help to cool the city in the summer. Also under your feet you can see occasional mosaic designs outside shops and other buildings – a pretzel in front of a bakery, or a city emblem in front of the Rathaus (town hall).
The Rathaus is also the place to be from the end of November and into December, as this is where you will find the bustling Christmas market. Imagine coming back from the freshly snow-covered mountains to mulled wine, pretzels, bratwurst and a browse of handmade wooden toys! (Note: There are no black squirrels during the winter at Triberg! Also they close the snowy/icy paths around the waterfall.)
Wine buffs should head to the west of Freiburg, to the Kaiserstuhl, a terraced hillside of vineyards and woodland next to the Rhine. The Kaiserstuhl is one of Germany’s best wine regions, with the Alsace region of France just on the other side of the river. You will find small supermarkets in Kaiserstuhl with very large wine sections, including small taster bottles that go down a treat with friends and family back home. And amongst the vineyards is an arboretum if you need a change from the ubiquitous pine trees of the Black Forest.
The main maps to use are the 1:50,000 Freizeitkarte series published by the Landesvermessungsant baden-Würtemberg. The 30 maps clearly show the signposted hiking trails and cycle routes throughout the Black Forest and cover down to the Bodensee. Gridlines are in 2km intervals.
A good general tourist map to cover the Black Forest is published by Freytag & Berndt. At the scale of 1:150,000 this map is better for planning or touring rather than hiking.
The Lonely Planet guide to Munich & Bavaria was updated in 2008 to include a dedicated section on the Black Forest for the first time, and at the moment is the only guidebook that covers the Black Forest other than one for the whole of Germany. Though the 2008 edition only mentions red squirrels at the Triberg waterfall, so let’s keep the black squirrels a secret!
Browse our collection of Black Forest/Baden Wurttemberg Maps and Guide books here >
Browse our collection of Germany Maps and Guide books here >
Author: Robert Daw