3 days hiking the Albsteig Trail – the Black Forest in Germany

For some reason, I suddenly felt like hiking 😁. So I quickly opened komoot, looked for long-distance hiking trails in the south of Germany, planned my stages, packed my rucksack and, the very next morning, I was on the train heading to the Black Forest 🥳.

In the very south, close to the border with Switzerland, the Albsteig begins (not to be confused with its counterpart of the same name in the Swabian Jura). The trail runs 83.3 kilometres (51.7 miles) and 2,722 metres (8,930 feet) in altitude along the Alb River from Albbruck municipality in the Rhine Valley to the Feldberg, the highest peak in the Black Forest. On the way, you pass rocky gorges with numerous waterfalls, many beautiful vantage points over the sea of firs and small, idyllic Black Forest villages.

I walked almost the whole way, but skipped the last bit from Bernau back to Sankt Blasien, especially as there is a diversion there at the moment. I also skipped the small detour via the hydroelectric power station and past the community of Häusern on the second stage. This way, a large part of the Tour can be hiked with challenging, but doable stages in three days. If you prefer to walk at a more leisurely pace, you can walk the route the classic way in five days.

All in all, I found the trail quite scenic and the routing is also very good in many places. You often follow small paths and trails rather than forest roads (although these are still used by the route). Aside from one or two steep climbs, there are no difficult sections on the Albsteig. I had the first stage from Albbruck to Immeneich almost completely to myself. Around Menzenschwand and Feldberg, there were a few more people but still not many (especially as I hiked the trail during the week in low season).