The best traffic-free bike rides around Gernsbach

The Baumwipfelpfad Schwarzwald is a 1250 m long treetop path on the Sommerberg west of Bad Wildbad in the district of Calw, Baden-Württemberg, at an altitude of approximately 750 m above sea level (NHN), and was built according to plans by the Schönberg architect Josef Stöger. The facility, opened in 2014, offers knowledge about the forest and its wildlife at various information stations, as well as an observation tower. It is operated by the company Erlebnis Akademie AG. The entrance to the path can be reached from the mountain station of the Sommerbergbahn via the Emmaweg or from the public car park via a zigzag path. The treetop path extends over a length of approximately 636 m and a height above the ground between about 4 and 20 m. It follows the terrain with a constant gentle incline and offers various didactic and experience stations such as balance beams or wobbly elements. In addition, there are 15 comic panels along the path, which are intended to provide excitement and convey knowledge, especially to children, as part of a treetop path comic rally. The entire path, including the ramp access in the observation tower, is barrier-free and reaches a maximum gradient of 6%. At the end of the path, you reach a 38.5 m high observation tower, which is mainly made of wood and, due to the arrangement of the twelve doubly inclined, glued laminated main supports, looks like a large twisted cup. The supports are arranged rotationally symmetrically at the same distance from each other and are inclined both outwards and clockwise laterally. They are connected by steel tubes, multiple cross-braced, and partially protected from the weather by sheet metal cladding. The access from the path into the tower takes place at a height of about five meters at the second winding of the 614 m long access ramp, which runs within the support columns, and which, after a total of nine windings, reaches the twelve-sided, approximately ring-shaped observation platform. This is attached to the outside of the supports with steel cantilevers and offers a view far into the Black Forest, the Rhine Valley, and the Swabian Jura. Orientation arrows to visible destinations and to the other treetop paths of the operating company are attached to the parapet. At a height of 25 m, between the access ramp and a central steel tube support in the middle of the tower, there is a triangular platform, from which a 55 m .....

In some pictures, a small wooden hut can be seen. Unfortunately, it burned down. Maybe a new one will be built; that would be nice.

Below this spot, an aircraft crashed on November 1, 1945, shortly after the end of the war. In the most severe air disaster ever to occur in our region, 26 American military personnel lost their lives. The aircraft was a Douglas C-47 (DC3) transport aircraft in its military version. It was put into service a year earlier and participated in "D-Day", the Normandy invasion, as a paratrooper transport. It had space for up to 32 people and was also known as a "raisin bomber" during the Berlin Airlift. On the day of the accident, 4 crew members and 26 U.S. Air Force soldiers were on board. They had been on vacation in London and were supposed to return to their units at the Oberschleißheim Air Force Base near Munich. Despite bad weather over the mainland, the 23-year-old pilot and his 22-year-old navigator decided to fly. Shortly after takeoff, the pilot had to climb above the cloud cover due to dense cloudiness and continue the flight using instruments. According to the navigator's calculations, a point near Augsburg should have been reached after 3 hours of flight, where the pilot could descend below the cloud cover and begin the approach using visual orientation. Due to strong headwinds, the calculated position was missed by more than 200 km. Consequently, the cloud cover was descended through north of Karlsruhe, and the navigator lost orientation. They followed the Rhine in a southwesterly direction until near Wintersdorf, a 90-degree correction was made to the original course towards Munich. The DC3 thus steered directly towards the 693-meter-high Bernstein. The pilot and navigator continued to try to determine the correct position from low altitude, which became increasingly difficult due to the approaching fog. Despite the dense fog, the silhouette of the aircraft was recognizable when flying over Michelbach. Around 4:30 PM, the aircraft crashed at an altitude of 620 meters, where it broke into several pieces and went up in flames after explosions. Many victims died because help arrived too late. That help arrived at all four hours after the accident is thanks to three survivors who, despite severe injuries, made their way to Sulzbach and Bernbach. Until now, only rumors had surrounded this event, and it eventually fell into oblivion.

Right well-walkable hiking trail over some stones and roots as a direct connection to the Bernstein Felsen.

On the Sommerberg, the northern Black Forest is revealed from a reverse perspective along a 1.2 km stretch. The tour culminates at the observation tower, 40 meters high, offering a spectacular 360-degree view over the endless forests and impressive valleys of the Black Forest. Those who wish can slide down the tower for €2.

Relatively blocky trail with large rocks, small drops, and sandy ground - technically already a bit demanding, i.e. for the more advanced and not necessarily for the absolute beginner. Therefore, absolutely not a "cycling highlight", but for MTB. Then it's also fun. The average person with a standard trekking bike or even a normal gravel bike will probably have to get off and carry it in places. But it's worth it

Very beautiful idyllic park

How sick do you have to be to damage this memorial stone like that?!