Lochautal Valley – 🏛️ Plankenstein Castle Site loop from Plankenfels

Hiking trails & Routes

Germany

Bavaria

Upper Franconia

Franconian Switzerland

Landkreis Bayreuth

Plankenfels

Lochautal Valley – 🏛️ Plankenstein Castle Site loop from Plankenfels

Moderate

4.8

(73)

226

hikers

Lochautal Valley – 🏛️ Plankenstein Castle Site loop from Plankenfels

02:57

10.3km

240m

Hiking

Moderate hike. Good fitness required. Mostly accessible paths. Sure-footedness required. The starting point of the route is accessible with public transport.

Last updated: August 21, 2026

Tips

Your route passes through a protected area

Please check local regulations for:

Naturpark Fränkische Schweiz - Frankenjura

Waypoints

Start point

Bus stop

Get Directions

2.03 km

Lochautal Valley

Highlight (Segment) • Gorge

The Lochau is one of the most beautiful river valleys of the Franconian Switzerland - especially as there is no road through it. On beautiful hiking trails you can explore the Auwiesen embossed valley and discover many different biotopes.

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4.80 km

🏛️ Plankenstein Castle Site

Highlight • Viewpoint

Plankenfels is located at the eastern entrance to Franconian Switzerland. In the midst of the rocky, forest and river landscapes, the village is a picturesque sight. The town is still …

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5.67 km

Old Railway Bridge, Plankenfels

Highlight • Bridge

Not only an impressive, old railway bridge, but also the gateway to a beautiful natural spectacle: the Lochautal. 😊

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7.15 km

Plankenfels Castle

Highlight • Castle

An old, somewhat mysterious masonry nestled around the rock. Privately owned and therefore not to be visited from the inside.

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7.31 km

View of Albrecht's Cave and the Wiesent River

Highlight • Viewpoint

7.82 km

Wiesent Valley (Upper Wiesenttal)

Highlight • Gorge

Beautiful hiking section through the upper Wiesenttal. Still mostly quiet and unknown.

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8.71 km

Wiesent River at Neumühle

Highlight • River

This section of the path is actually a trail through boggy terrain if the weather was previously wet. The height of the path is only centimeters higher than that of …

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10.3 km

End point

Bus stop

Way Types & Surfaces

Way Types

5.05 km

3.44 km

927 m

877 m

< 100 m

Surfaces

3.43 km

2.62 km

1.99 km

1.78 km

448 m

< 100 m

Elevation

Nothing selected – click and drag below to see the stats for a specific part of the route.

Highest point (460 m)

Lowest point (360 m)

Weather

Wednesday 21 October

12°C

6°C

0 %

Additional weather tips

Max wind speed: 14.0 km/h

to get more detailed weather forecasts along your route

Comments

August 14, 2022,🥾Tour ab Plankenfels mit Mühlen, Wiesenttal 🌳🌲Lobitze 😅, Lochautal 🌳🌳🌲, Plankenstein 🌲🌲🌲🌳 - viel Schatten, großartiger Ausblick

In search of shade! The small piece up the Wiesent below Plankenfels is beautiful. Franconian paths, with benches for a picnic. The path on the Plankenfels is an official MTB trail. Stop at the super nice Black Knight in Plankenfels.

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April 10, 2023,Ende der Fastenzeit...

Made a stop here with @Steffen and Co on Maundy Thursday. Immediately saved as the start for today's hike. And because today was also my (media) fast-breaking, there are many photos again. Beautiful hike along the Wiesent and the Lochau

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August 25, 2021,Rund um Plankenfels - oder das GPS-Desaster

Today the cell phone constantly lost the GPS, annoying. If there are GPS holes I found one :-)

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August 14, 2023,🧭 Plankenfels ¤ Plankenstein ¤ Meuschlitz - Runde 🥾 [🌤+22°C🌡]

The muggy weather forecast didn't prevent us from doing this tour anyway 😁.

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March 15, 2024,🌞Plankenfels / Lochautal ☁️und los....

Think about it for a moment, the 🌞seems to go? 🤔
Plankenfels towards Lochautal is always a good idea. It started at the starting point at the railway bridge and the 🌞 was gone too. So always follow your nose and with thick dark clouds behind you.
But thanks to the good signage, we always found the right way. I …

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