Epic Hikes of the World ( PDFDrive )

© M Hauser | Alamy
track through the trees
The spa town of Baden-Baden spreads out before me from the lookout tower of
Friedrichsturm atop Badener Höhe, some 3280ft (1000m) above sea level. The view
takes in the full swoop of the northern Black Forest, the Rhine Valley and the
Vosges Mountains over the border in France.
The going gets tougher and the scenery increasingly dramatic and mountainous
as I reach the trail’s biggest natural draw and centerpiece: the Black Forest
National Park. Created in 2014, this 39 sq mile (100 sq km) pocket of forest is the
Schwarzwald at its wildest and untamed best. These heights are often buried under
snow in winter, and flecked with purple heather in summer. But now, in the cool,
sharp days of autumn, they are dappled tawny-gold, with mushrooms and
toadstools popping up on the side of the track. I join the day-trippers to admire the
reflecting waters of Mummelsee, a lake where legend has it that an underwater
king and nymphs dwell. A stiff climb leads from here up to the 3816ft (1163m) peak
of Hornisgrinde. A little further south is the lesser-visited, forest-rimmed
Glaswaldsee, a wonderfully peaceful lake in which to rest my aching feet a while.
The glow of sunset renders the forested hills into relief as I arrive at the tower of
Brandenkopf, with the Alps just a smudge on the horizon.