The Soonwaldsteig – A 6-stage trek in the Hunsrück

Up here, on the trail, you'll have nothing more than your sleeping bag and your tent for company. Your kitchen is your camp stove, while the nocturnal forest noises will provide the soundtrack to the best night's sleep you've ever had. You're on the Hunsrück hiking trail — and you won't see a soul for miles. Opened in 2009, this extraordinary hiking trail takes you from Kirn ad the Nahe over the lonely mountain ranges of the Soonwald to Bingen at the Rhine in six short days. Away from villages and inns, you'll spend the night on suitable trekking trails in the middle of the forest, in small clearings and even in the castle courtyard of the Schmidtburg ruins.

The six daily stages of the Soonwald take you along quiet woodland trails, unspoilt and narrow paths and rarely used forest tracks through the dense beech and spruce forests on the Soonwald mountains. As you go, lonely lookout towers await you, offering magnificent views high above the treetops. The special Highlights of your hike are the overnight stays on the four trekking sites between Kirn and Lauschhütte. Apart from a simple compost toilet, there are no other amenities here — exactly how a night in the great outdoors should be. At the end of the fifth stage, you'll spend the night on the tent meadow of the Outdoor Park Lauschhütte. All overnight stays in tents must be booked in advance. Our hikes only take you close to the individual trekking sites, because you will only receive the exact GPS coordinates after successful reservation and payment. You can book your campsite directly under soonwaldsteig.de/trekkingcamps/buchung

Since the first four stages are completely away from villages and towns, you should pack enough supplies and above all water. As you go, you can take water from the large streams Hahnenbach, Simmerbach and Gräfenbach, but the streams do not have drinking water quality. Before consumption, the water must be filtered and boiled, simple filtering is not enough. A network of open water taps is also currently being developed to provide hikers with direct access to drinking water. The current status of open taps can be found at soonwaldsteig.de/service/netz-offener-wasserhaehne.

Both the starting point Kirn and the destination Bingen can easily be reached by train from Frankfurt, Mainz, Saarbrücken, Koblenz and Cologne - so you can get to your hiking adventure in the Soonwald comfortably and environmentally friendly. Alternatively, you can arrive with your own car and park at the Kiesel permanent car park in Kirn at a reasonable price.

Once you have planned your provisions, packed your trekking tent and rolled up your sleeping bag, you can start your trekking adventure in the Soonwald.