Karlstal Circular Trail

Today we went to the Karlstal Gorge in cloudy weather but pleasant temperatures of 19 degrees. In the course of the tour, however, the sun peeked out and invited you to linger. We chose the path so that the gorge came to an end. The tour served as an intermediate test for wolf girls who had had a cold and who still had difficulty walking. One of the highlights was our meeting with an older man in Trippstadt, he could tell us a lot. We may run this tour again in the fall.

This hiking tour, marked with a new trail logo, offers wonderful nature experiences in the wild and romantic Karlstal, which with its sandstone cliffs is one of the most beautiful gorges in the Palatinate Forest. Other highlights are the Trippstadt baroque castle with its French garden and old trees, the Wilensteiner mill, the Klugsche mill and the Sägmühlweiher pond. The Karlstal is a gorge-like incised valley that has been developed into a natural forest park. In the 18th century it was created as part of an English landscape park around Trippstadt Castle. Friedrich Ludwig Sckell, who also designed the English Garden in Munich, was commissioned to do this. In 1983, the valley was declared a nature reserve, primarily because of its geological importance and its boulder heaps and mighty boulders. Almost all types of ferns found in the Palatinate Forest can be found here. 170 species were found in the rich moss flora, including 31 rare and 13 very rare.

The beautiful Finsterbrunnertal was on today's plan. Already gone through it several times in different variants. Since the valley has now been included in a premium hiking trail, we chose this tour. The clear highlight is the Karlstal Gorge. You continue along the Moosalb to the Gutenbrunnerhof. A crisp increase on the Rothenberg with a beautiful beech forest. Then down into the Neuhöfertal through the campsite and uphill again to Trippstadt. You can stop off at the small bakery at the end/beginning of the tour.

A really great tour to the Karlstal Gorge at the beginning, then it gets even better and is on its way to becoming a top tour. But then there is nothing more than tracks in the forest with no highlights or views... The Karlstal Gorge is beautiful but you definitely don't miss anything if you choose the walking route!

I thought, since I was already in the Palatinate, I might as well finish off by doing this circular trail. Especially since it's often described as one of the most beautiful circular trails in Rhineland-Palatinate. Unfortunately, I don't share this view. The Karlstal Gorge itself is very impressive. However, it ends at about km 5, and then it gets a bit monotonous—sorry.

I tried out my new Lowa Renegade GTX MID lightweight hiking shoes today and I'm completely satisfied!!!😎👍🥾 ....advertising unpaid.....

Nice tour, but crowded today on Corpus Christi!

Today we went to Trippstadt in the Palatinate again. In these temperatures, only cooling down helps. So off to Karlstal. We had a towel ready. We parked at the swimming pool. A very pleasant walk to cool off. Towards the end there was a real highlight. An ice cream machine. Here is the official description: From the center of Trippstadt, the Karlstalschlucht circular hiking trail leads us west to the Trippstadt castle of the Barons von Hacke. We enter the castle park with its magnificent trees through a wrought iron gate and admire the Trippstadt castle, built in 1766 from red sandstone. In the park we keep to the right and leave it through a somewhat hidden wooden gate. We continue to follow the markings steadily downhill through a long valley, towards Karlstal. We pass Wilenstein Castle and further down in the valley we can see the Klug’sche Mühle, a popular restaurant with an open-air terrace and garden restaurant with a small pond on which two swans swim. We cross the Moosalb and keep to the left. The sign “Karlstalschlucht” shows us the way. What follows is perhaps the most beautiful kilometer of hiking in the Palatinate Forest. At the entrance to the gorge, a narrow path allows you to climb up to a cave, a former hermitage, which lies above in a huge sea of blocks. The Moosalb flows through a narrow valley with mighty rocks and sandstone blocks, the path leads over many small bridges, sometimes on one side of the stream, sometimes on the other. In the middle of the valley, a small wooden pavilion stands above the stream and offers a dreamlike backdrop - not just for lovers. The Karlstal ends at Oberhammer. Here we cross the road at the bus stop and pass the romantic Oberhammer pond. We now stay in the valley and hike along an endless meadow valley at the edge of the forest to the district of "Gutenbrunnen" or Gutenbrunnerhof. Here we leave the main path, turn sharply left, pass the game fence, walk a few steps to the right and then turn sharply left to reach the entrance to a narrow path up to the Grosser Rothenberg. This must have been the most strenuous part of the hike. Once at the top, we follow a main path for a short stretch, first to the left and then right again after about 200 m at a large crossroads. We go through beautiful, lonely beech forests to the Sägmühle camping leisure center, where the Sägmühlweiher or the local restaurant offers us a place to cool off. We cross the camping area on an official path, keep left on the road and then immediately right again. After about 250 m, the Karlstalschlucht circular hiking trail turns left and we follow a narrow forest path uphill towards Trippstadt. A few more sunny meadow moments and we are back at the starting point of our tour.