All details about the hike Feldberg Steig which is one of the most popular hikes around Feldberg in the Black Forest of Germany. Hiking maps and GPX-files included.
Details Feldberg Steig Hike
Distance: The total distance for this hike is 14,4 kilometers (loop hike)
Elevation gain: The total incline was 526 meters
Moving time: According to Strava my moving time was 3 hours and 36 minutes (total time was 5h 56min ).
Difficulty: I would rate this as an intermediate hike. We did this hike in November and there was some snow/ice already which made some sections quite hard without crampons or hiking sticks.
Address start: Dr.-Pilet-Spur 2, 79868 Feldberg (Schwarzwald), Germany
Price: Indoor parking was 14 EUR for 7 hours
Use the pinned location below so you can navigate straight to where the hike starts.
How to get to Feldberg?
Feldberg is located in the North of the Black Forest close to the border with Switzerland also called Hochschwarzwald (High-Black Forest). To get to Feldberg with public transportation you would first have to get to Freiburg im Breisgau which is a larger city in the area. There’s a train that goes from Freiburg im Breisgau to Titisee, then you have to take a connecting train to Feldberg-Bärental. After that you still have to walk for 1 hour to reach the start of the hike to Feldberg.
An easier way to get to Feldberg is to drive yourself usin the Feldbergpas B317. From Freiburg im Breisgau to Feldberg it’s about 50 minutes driving. There’s a ski resort with other amenities at Feldberg so there’s plenty of parking around. I parked in the indoor parking and paid 14 EUR for 7 hours.
How to hike around Feldberg in the Black Forest?
Generally speaking for all hikes, the easiest way is to download a GPX file that you can view on a gps device, a smartphone or smartwatch. It will tell you step-by-step how to walk. It also includes an elevation profile of the hike which can help you to decide if this hike is for you or not.
Download the GPX file right here: Hike-Feldberg-Black-Forest-Germany.gpx
In the video below you can get an idea of all the things we did during our stay in the Black Forest in Germany.
Feldberg
With an altitude of 1492 meters above sea level, Feldberg is the highest mountain in Schwarzwald and in the administrative region Baden-Württemberg. It’s also the highest mountain in Germany outside the Alps.
On top of Feldberg there is a panoramic view and on a clear day you can see all the way to the Alps and the Vosges mountains ranges.
In summer the Feldberg region is very popular amongst hikers. The Feldberg Steig which I describe in this article is one of the most popular hikes. There are also mountain huts where you can stay during a multi-day trek.
During wintertime Feldberg is especially popular for wintersport such as skiing and cross country skiing. There are about 32 kilometers of ski slopes in the area.
Feldsee
The Feldsee was formed by glaciers that melted after the last ice age about 25000 years ago. It is up to 32 metres deep and 97,500 m2 in area.
If you’re visiting Feldsee in summer you might be tempted to cool off in this beautiful lake but bathing is strictly forbidden. There’s an underwater fern that only grows in the Feldsee and the Tittisee which is another lake not too far away and to preserve this plant it is strictyl forbidden to bath in Feldsee.
The Feldsee can only be reached on foot or by bicylce, when walking the Feldberg Steig you will pass by this lake and in my opinion it was one of the highlights of this hike.
My experience Hiking the Feldberg Steig
The starting point of the Feldberg Steig is at Haus der Natur Feldberg. For the first kilometer you basically have to follow an asphalted road that winds up along the flank of the Feldberg.
After the first kilometer you will have to take a right and follow the single track that ascends through a forest. When leaving the forest you will see in the distance the Bismarck Denkmal, this monument was created in honor of Otto Von Bismarck who was Germany’s first-ever chancellor. There are some benches here to chill out for a moment while watching the beautiful panoramic view.
Over the next 2 kilometers you will be hiking on a plan that connects with the highest point in the area Feldberg. When we did this hike in November there was already snow here which made it a bit sketchy at times to hike on without crampons. Little did we know the most sketchy section was yet to come!
Feldberg is easily visible from the distance because of the antennas that are located just next to the viewpoint platform. From this platform you can see, on a clear day, all the way to the Alps and the Vosges mountains.
When leaving Feldberg behind you’ll have to backtrack a bit and go right (Feldberg behind you). There’s a trail here that goes direction the mountain hut St. Wilhelmer Hutte where you can eat or drink something . When we were there in November it was closed. Not sure if this was because of Covid or because it was winter.
During the next 3 kilometers we were struggling quite a bit. It seemed like this side of the mountain didn’t catch a lot of sun (Feldberg slope facing North-West) and the snow became mostly ice. While descending we were trying to hold on to trees and bushes so we didn’t slide and tumble down the mountain. I would suggest to bring hiking sticks if you suspect there might be some snow. During winter time it’s a complete different story, then you will probably need more than just hiking sticks.
Eventually we made our way down to Zastler Hut here you can eat or drink something. If you’re on a multi-day trek you can sleep over. During peak season it might be advisable to reserve in advance.
A little over a kilometer from Zastler Hut there’s another hut called Naturfreundehaus Feldberg. As you can see there are plenty of mountain huts available in this area, I didn’t even mention all of them. Here at Naturfreundehaus Feldberg there were several non alcoholic drinks, coffee and local beers available. As this hut was also closed (Covid?) they were serving these drinks on an honesty base. You just take the drinks you want and leave money in the piggy bank.
After tasting a local artisan beer it was time to head on direction Feldsee but first we passed through a forest where we saw the Sagenback waterfall and followed the Sagenbach river for a while.
Over the next 2 kilometers we descended for approximately 200 meters to finally reached, what was my personal highlight of this Feldberg Steig hike, the Feldsee. A beautiful almost round shaped mountain lake that is only reachable on foot or by bicycle.
After taking in the beauty of the Feldsee for a while we started off for the final stretch of the Feldberg Steig. The last 2 kilometers in mostly dense forest we ascended for about 150 meters. It was getting dark quite fast so we rushed it to make it back to the Feldberg parking.
Satisfied from this hike we drove to Tittisee to grab dinner and called it a day!
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