Rachel Summit (Rachel Peak) – View of Lake Rachel loop from Gfäll

Hiking trails & Routes

Rachel Summit (Rachel Peak) – View of Lake Rachel loop from Gfäll

Moderate

4.8

(559)

2,226

hikers

Rachel Summit (Rachel Peak) – View of Lake Rachel loop from Gfäll

03:30

10.4km

500m

Hiking

Moderate hike. Good fitness required. Easily-accessible paths. Suitable for all skill levels. The starting point of the route is accessible with public transport.

Last updated: August 22, 2026

Tips

Your route passes through a protected area

Please check local regulations for:

Nationalpark Bayerischer Wald

Waypoints

Start point

Bus stop

Get Directions

3.18 km

Großer Rachel Summit

Highlight • Summit

In a ZDF survey on the most popular excursion destinations in Germany, the Great Rachel was number 1 in the mountain category at 1,453 meters! The highest mountain in the …

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4.37 km

View of Lake Rachel

Highlight • Viewpoint

From the little Rachel chapel you have a fantastic view down to the Rachelsee.

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4.43 km

Rocky Ascent to Rachel in Bavarian Forest National Park

Highlight • Climb

The path to the chapel and Rachel is rocky and quite slippery;
not a MTB trail. Sturdy shoes are recommended.

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5.97 km

Hiking trail in Nationalpark Bayerischer Wald

Highlight • Trail

6.46 km

Seebach Stream in Bavarian Forest National Park

Highlight • River

Very nice area for hiking 🥾

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8.36 km

Forest Trail in Bavarian Forest National Park

Highlight • Trail

Forest bathing seasoned with mindfulness therapy? Please!
Dinner is served :-)

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8.41 km

Boulder path in Nationalpark Bayerischer Wald

Highlight • Trail

beautiful old boulder path - and not for slippers ;-)

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10.4 km

End point

Bus stop

Way Types & Surfaces

Way Types

6.86 km

3.44 km

132 m

Surfaces

6.33 km

3.48 km

548 m

< 100 m

Elevation

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

Highest point (1,420 m)

Lowest point (940 m)

Weather

Sunday 4 October

19°C

6°C

0 %

Additional weather tips

Max wind speed: 4.0 km/h

to get more detailed weather forecasts along your route

Comments

December 2, 2024,Rachelrunde... runde Sache 😀

After a lot of Nordic walking in the last few weeks, we got in the car again today and drove to Gfäll.
The Rachel is a very worthwhile destination at this time of year... hmmm, apart from a friendly trail runner, we didn't meet anyone today.
The weather was fantastic and the tour was ultimately over far too quickly...but wait, …

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July 5, 2024,Hoch auf den großen Rachel 👨‍👧

Today is our last day here and now we have nice weather too 😎. After climbing the highest mountain in the Bavarian Forest yesterday and having mechanical support, today we climbed the highest mountain in the Bavarian National Park on foot. We put the climb at the beginning of the tour and planned the loop past the lake back to …

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May 26, 2024,Rundweg Auerhahn - auf den Rachel: Gipfel, Kapelle und See - 🍅's Premiere

The Auerhahn circular trail starts in Gfäll and leads constantly (sometimes very) steeply uphill to the Waldschmidthaus and up to the summit, then it goes down the back to the chapel and the Rachelsee and finally via a beautiful forest path back to the starting point!
You can't really get lost, as you very regularly encounter the yellow Auerhahn!
The …

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August 14, 2024,Auf den Rachel: Gipfel, Kapelle und See

Access to Gfäll by car is not possible in the summer months between 8am and 6pm. You can only get there by Igel bus. The Waldschmidthaus is currently closed, so there is no place to stop for refreshments.

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May 23, 2024,Tour

You have to take the Igelbus to Gfell to the starting point. The starting point cannot be reached by car except between 6 p.m. and 8 a.m. 😬

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April 27, 2024,Winterwanderung Ende April zum Großer Rachel ,mit Rachel Kapelle und Rachel See.

In fantastic weather on the big Rachel.
The amount of snow was like in winter.

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March 8, 2025,Vom Gfäll zum Rachel, Rachelkapelle, Rachelsee und zurück zum Gfäll

Up to the summit without crampons, then down with crampons.
The snow was sometimes easy to walk on, sometimes very slushy.
It was a wonderful tour🤩🤩

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August 27, 2024,Bayerischer Wald: Der Große Rachel auf dem Rundweg Auerhahn

The Grosser Rachel was still missing from the well-known peaks of the Bavarian Forest National Park - of all places, the Grosser Rachel. With the Auerhahn circular route, I looked at the easiest tour according to the data on the national park's website. From the Gfäll car park, it is only about 500 meters in altitude - but the climb …

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