Mountains, castles, Roman and Celtic ruins: the Altmuehltal trail

By Martin Oversohl Jun 1, 2010, 23:30 GMT

Eichstaett, Germany - Just a short run, and then a hiker could, with the right equipment, easily glide back down into the valley. Up here on the Jachenhausen ramp used by paragliders, the Altmuehltal panorama trail combines everything which forms it all the way to the final destination.

From atop the Teufelsfelsen (devil's cliffs) one's view scans the Main-Danube Canal, which takes over from the Altmuehl river for the final third of the trail. The view takes in the bicycling path along the river banks, and the landscape is a mixture of juniper shrubs, rocky formations, peaks from the Jurassic period, forests, fields and castles.

Nine days after first setting out in Gunzenhausen, on the Altmuehltal Lake, and a day before the end of the cross-country trek in Kelheim, the trail passes by the Jachenhausen ramp - one part of the 210 kilometres of hiking highlights between the Franconian Alb region to the Danube River.

The panorama trail is no longer a well-kept secret tip. First given a quality seal of approval by the German hikers association in 2006, it was quickly honoured as the 'Hiking Trail of the Year.'

But because the demand for use of the trail is spread over ten stages, there are still some days when a hiker feels almost all by himself on the trail.

The name of the trail does not seem to be in evidence at least on the first short stage between Gunzenhausen and Spielberg: the Altmuehl River only briefly appears. The pleasurable hiking will come later.

The next day, starting at the foot of the Spielberg castle, the trail leads to the rock formation Steinerne Rinne near Wolfsbronn, where small streams gush forth from springs of cold, calcium-rich waters. It is this calcium which settles down and slowly forms a dam, creating a riverbed up to 160 centimetres high.

A few days later, pristine Nature is awaiting hikers at the 'Twelve Apostles' - a limestone rock formation near Esslingen, or at the Maxberg rock quarry nearby.

The fossilised print of an Archaepoteryx discovered here is the only find of the ancient ur-bird in Germany. Whereas in Solnhofen the shale chalk is commercially exploited, hobby archaeologists large and small have a chance to make discoveries of their own at the Blumenberg quarry on the outskirts of Eichstaett.

Eichstaett, with its prince-bishop residence is the cultural-historic highlight of the trail. Sections of the limes, or the northern fortification marking the boundary of the Roman Empire two millennia ago, can be located near Arnberg.

An overnight stay at Beilngries, with its medieval town wall, brick-and-timber houses and lookout towers which are inhabited, is worthwhile.

The trail touches on the Rhine-Main Canal for the first time at this point. It picks up the Altmuehl River near the town of Dietfurt and carries on past Eggersberg Castle to the towns of Riedenburg and Prunn.

Crossing over what is Europe's longest suspended wooden bridge, hikers then reach the remains of a Celtic ringed fortress. For kilometres the trail follows the more than 2,000-year-old fortification until the ground falls sharply away, meaning that the 'Weltenburg Strait' has been reached, the point where the Danube River breaks through a boulder.

The trail's final kilometres lead past the former House of Wittelbach's residence at Kelheim. This might impress the purists, while those now keen on some creature comforts are more likely to visit the beer garden of the monastic brewery.

Whether in the bustling thermal spa town of Treuchtlingen or in the fairy-tale setting of Pappenheim, the home base of Wallenstein's powerful military forces, or later on in Eichstaett or Kelheim - the restaurant menus along the way provide rewards for the day's hiking effort.