The best hiking routes in Naturpark Südschwarzwald

Naturpark Südschwarzwald offers a landscape of high, rounded granite domes, wide highland pastures, and deep, dark coniferous forests. Unlike the sharper peaks of younger mountain ranges, this southern section of the Black Forest is characterized by its massive, weathered plateaus and steep, glaciated valleys. Walkers will notice a distinct transition between the dense, shadowy spruce woods on the slopes and the open, wind-swept heathlands of the highest elevations, such as the Feldberg region.

Underfoot, the trails vary from soft, needle-strewn forest paths and damp peat-moss tracks to stony, root-filled ascents. In the higher boggy areas, wooden boardwalks protect the fragile wetland vegetation from boots. The landscape is shaped by its glacial past, visible in the dark, circular tarns like the Feldsee, which sit in deep cirques carved out of the mountainsides.

This area is not a place of jagged limestone spires or dry, sandy plains. It is a humid, green highland where water is constantly present, trickling through mossy ravines and feeding wide, rushing streams. While the well-known summits and lakeside paths attract many visitors, the deeper forest tracks and high pasture trails offer a much quieter walking experience.