フロイデンシュタットの天然記念物・トップ20

Since the devastating hurricane Lothar in 1999, the memorial path has been rebuilt several times. At the beginning, you had to climb over fallen trees, but over the years the entire path has been laid out on wooden planks. This has many advantages but also disadvantages. Especially in winter when ice and snow make the wooden planks slippery. The steps are dangerous. This is why the Lothar path with the woodpecker path and parts of the panorama path are officially closed in winter when there is ice and snow. You then walk at your own risk.

The silted-up, originally almost circular lake now resembles a three-fingered hand. The south-southwest-facing "fingers" are between 80 and 110 meters long, and the northern "palm" has a diameter of approximately 40 meters. The body of water, mostly covered by floating vegetation, has a maximum diameter of just under 150 meters. Like all cirque lakes, the Ellbachsee was formed by glaciers. The last deepening of the lake basin occurred during the Würm glaciation, which ended in the Black Forest about 10,000 years ago. The Ellbachsee and its surroundings are designated as a natural monument (7.1 hectares), a geotope, and a protected forest. Source: Wikipedia

Both the Sankenbachsteig (premium hiking trail) and the Baiersbronner Seensteig (quality trail) go along here. Both pass the Sankenbach waterfall and the Sankenbachsee. A beautiful part of the Black Forest, highly recommended.

The Ellbachsee in the municipality of Baiersbronn was designated as an extensive natural monument in 1937. The protected area covers a total area of approximately 7.1 hectares. The water area is surrounded by a Bultenmoor; it forms an independent biotope for many endangered animal and plant species. Because of its high sensitivity to being stepped on, you should avoid walking on it so that this habitat is not destroyed. Compared to the other karst lakes in the Black Forest, the Ellbachsee is not particularly deep at 1 to 2 meters. Its length is approximately 190 meters and its width is approximately 40 meters. At just 0.34 hectares, the open water area is the smallest of the karst lakes in the northern Black Forest. It has now become increasingly silted up, which is reflected in a silted area of 1.16 hectares. Some downy birch trees have already settled on the peat island floating on it. The lake has a narrow outlet and breaks through the moraine. It flows into the Guten Ellbach, which flows into the Murg in Baiersbronn Mitteltal.

According to records, an “old castle” must have stood here around 1655. There probably never was a noble family based on the Burgbach rock. Unfortunately nothing remains. Source: https://www.alleburgen.de/bd.php?id=11224 You can use a circular path to ascend and descend the Burgbach rocks: up the stone stairs to the pavilion and down along a path (or vice versa, depending on your taste). The view from the rock is incredible, especially when the weather is nice...

The gourmet path Baiersbronner Sankenbachsteig offers varied experiences such as the Sankenbachsee, the Sankenbach waterfall on natural paths.

Next to the viewing pavilion is a large table with benches. Here we were able to enjoy a hearty snack.

From Baiersbronn in the direction of Sankenbachtal = more Black Forest is not possible: the happily babbling Sankenbach accompanies the hiker to the Sankenbach-Karsee. On the way there is a deer park, fir trees and meadows alternate as the valley narrows and then a root path leads up to the lake. Behind it we continue to the Sankenbach waterfall, which is worth seeing on a cirque wall.