hiking through the Palatinate

Why wander far and wide when the Palatinate is so close by?

It’s 5 pm on a sunny Thursday morning in October. I’ve just come out of my last Zoom meeting and I’m eager to enjoy my weekend. Finally, I can pry myself from the screen and spend some time enjoying the great outdoors. I prepare my backpack for the eighth Bloggerwandern hiking trip through the Palatinate – a corner of Germany I’ve so far only seen in pictures and on social media. I’m expecting vineyards stretching all the way to the horizon, enchanted forests and ancient castle ruins. At this point, I don’t know yet that reality will trump even these lofty expectations.

Getting to the starting point is easy, as all of the region’s three long-distance hiking trails, the “Pfälzer Waldpfad” (Palatine Forest Trail), “Pfälzer Weinsteig” (Palatine Wine Route) and “Pfälzer Höhenweg” (Palatine Ridgeway) are connected to the public transportation network. The 26 smaller trails on the “Wandermenü Pfalz” (Palatinate Hiking Menu) are also mostly easy to reach by bus or train.

A festival for democracy

The “Bloggerwandern” hiking tour starts with a visit to Hambach Castle on Friday at noon. The castle near the Palatine Wine Route has a special place in German history and it offers a sweeping view across the fertile plains of the Rhine region and the neighbouring wooded hills all the way to France.

But more exciting than the view is the history of this place: This is where the Hambacher Festival took place. In 1830, some 30,000 citizens of the region gathered here to celebrate and demand the establishment of democratic principles such as freedom of the press, freedom of assembly, freedom of expression, civil rights, religious tolerance and national unity. This was one of the formative events of German democracy today.

Our first goal: A cosy cabin

One of the guiding principles of Palatine culture is to make any kind of activity a little bit more fun by combining it with good food and wine. The region holds more than 100 cabins used as forest inns and hikers’ hostels which offer room and board to weary hikers. But I’ll warn you: Palatine wine spritzers are quite something – and it’s not unheard of for people to blissfully lose the trail after enjoying a couple too many. Fortunately, some of the inns and hostels offer overnight accommodations. These cabins are mostly run on a voluntary basis by members of the “Pfälzerwald-Verein” or “Pfälzer NaturFreunde” clubs.

That’s very unique for a German low mountain region, which is why the German “Kultusministerkonferenz” (conference of ministers of education of the German states) has named Palatine cabin culture an intangible cultural heritage in accordance with UNESCO. Congratulations!

A fairy-tale October

Like any forest, the Palatinate Forest is a sight to behold all year round, but it’s particularly beautiful in October. When the low sun bathes the vineyards in golden light and the leaves on the trees shine in so many different colours, a simple fog can turn the entire forest into something out of a fairy tale.

In my opinion, the best time to start your journey is just before sunrise. It might not be easy to get up that early on your day off work, but I promise it’s worth it… usually. Start your hiking trip in the dark (don’t forget your head lamp) and make your way to one of the many vantage points, such as the “Burgenmassiv Alt-Dahn - Grafendahn - Tanstein” castle ruin. Your reward is an amazing view over the hills and forests.

We keep hiking along the Palatine Forest Trail towards the “Drachenfels” (dragon stone) ruins. If you plan accordingly and bring some food with you, you could enjoy an amazing sunset picknick here. Alternatively, you may want to rest your weary legs at the “Drachenfelshütte” (dragon stone cabin).

Going with the flow

Only a few kilometres away, you’ll find the Hördter Reinaue nature reserve. This is an entirely different type of landscape, one of the few protected and ecologically intact floodplain landscapes in all of Germany. It’s also home to endangered species such as the great crested newt, the black kite, the kingfisher and the grey woodpecker.

You can experience the ca. 15 km long “Treidlerweg” (Treidler Trail) past quarry ponds, fields and wild orchards in about 3.5 to 4.5 hours, perfect for a day trip. Don’t forget to bring binoculars – and a potent mosquito repellent.

Some more ideas:

Keep in mind that the trails described here are individual stages of the long-distance Palatine Wine Route and the Palatine Forest Trail. The Treidler Trail can be hiked in one day. Here’s an overview of the region’s various hiking trails, including descriptions of the routes (in German): https://www.pfalz.de/de/pfalz-erleben/wandern/wandermenue-pfalz-die-schoensten-wanderwege

Some of the cabins are only open at certain times (outside of the main tourist seasons), so it’s best to find out in advance whether the cabin you’re hiking to will be open.

There are many places to stay overnight in the Palatinate region, but you should probably book in advance – especially during holiday season. We stayed at the “Hotel Kurparkblick” and the “Pfälzer Wald” hotel.

Maier Sports and the Rheinland-Pfalz Tourismus GmbH’s #Bloggerwandern event

Maier Sports is a sponsor of the #Bloggerwandern event of the Rheinland-Pfalz Tourismus GmbH. The bloggers were equipped with our INARA Slim and NATURNO pants as well as our MELBU ICE W, PAMPERO 2.0 and NOTOS jackets.