Black Forest - Schwarzwald.

If you didn’t already know, Germany is one of the most wooded countries in Europe.

Germany is blanketed with forests. We love living in Germany because you can literally walk out your door, and in no time at all you’re walking through shaded trails, spying on deer and squirrels, and listening to silence.

After a long year full of many changes, including finishing my Master’s degree, taking on an international move, facing infertility challenges, and changing employment, Ryan and I wanted to take a relaxing weekend to enjoy some R&R. We decided to spend a 3 day weekend in the Black Forest aka Schwarzwald.

What is it that makes the Black Forest so famous? Or “black” anyway?

In the Black Forest there is a 100 mile stretch of trees so dense that the sun doesn’t reach the forest floor—hence the “blackness” of the forest.

The forest is also world-world-renowned for it’s wood, which is used around the world from boats in Netherlands to buildings in Japan. Furthermore, it is the birthplace of the infamous cuckoo clock, houses numerous thermal spas, and is the setting of many fairytales, including several Grimms brothers tales, little red riding hood, Snow White, Rapunzel, and Sleeping Beauty. It certainly is a place where you feel like you’ve stepped into a fairytale.

The Black Forest has been visited and enjoyed by the Romans, famous persons of the 19th century, and modern celebrities. It is a place where “you lost rack of time in ten minutes… the world in twenty,” as Mark Twain described it.

For our weekend of adventure, we selected a random hotel that ended up being quite lovely. We stayed at Der Hirschen (the Deer in German) in Sankt Märgen, where we were pleasantly surprised to feast on wild game for dinner and a food-coma-worthy breakfast. (FYI I spent the first 15 minutes of breakfast wandering around with face cream on my nose not realizing I hadn't rubbed it in all the way...)

When we arrived Friday night, we could pick from all kinds of wild game caught in the region and prepared by the chefs for us. We could choose from deer, wild boar, goose, trout, cod, and wild mushrooms. Ryan chose to try the goose and I had the wild mushrooms ravioli. Both were incredible! (and not too pricey to boot, at about €20 an entree). It was a perfect way to end our day.

Earlier that day, as we made our way down to our hotel, we had decided to take a scenic drive called the Black Forest High Road aka Schwarzwald-Hochstrasse. The 30km route runs from Baden-Baden to Freudenstadt. We enjoyed this lovely drive, taking in the hilltops, forests, and beautiful lakes. We particularly loved stopping at Mummelsee, where we played on the ropes and random exercise jungle gym devices they had there.

We stopped at Mehliskopf Bob in Sand along the way to take a toboggan ride that we were really looking forward to, but unfortunately they were closed! Even though their website said open daily from 10:00am to 4pm… it turns out they’re only open on Saturdays, Sundays, and no school days. If you get a chance to go, it looked like a lot of fun! There are 13 steep curves for a total length of 1,300 meters (roughly 4,260 feet). Adults €4,10, Kids €3 or you can buy passes for multiple runs.

You can also rent VR headsets for a completely different experience!

Mehliskopf Bob is open year round. There is another toboggan ride in Gutach, but it it only open in the spring/summer.

Mehliskopf Bob Address:

Am Stadtwald 4

77815 Sand bei Bühl/Baden

phone 07226 1300

mail@mehliskopf.de

As we continued our journey to Sankt Märgen, we stopped in at House of Clocks, because Ryan really wanted to purchase a cuckoo clock. Here’s the one we got:

Haha, just kidding. (cuckoo clocks of this size cost several thousand dollars).

We did get a cuckoo clock, but a much smaller one. I was impressed with the shop’s carpenters who have been carving cuckoo clocks for over 50 years. You could see their work stand in the shop where they hand-carve the cuckoo clock’s characters, trees, roof tiles, etc. (I’ve never been a “fan” of cuckoo clocks… I find them gaudy and overworked, but Ryan really wanted one and it seemed fitting to take one home with us as our own little piece of the black forest and a memory of Germany).

Although I don’t love cuckoo clocks, I sincerely appreciate craftsmanship. The little couple that owned the shop was adorable because as Ryan and I went back and forth for over an hour trying to decide on a clock, they were anxious and eager to help us make our selection. We finally settled on one we liked, but it didn’t have a dog on it. We really wanted one with a little dog that looked like our Gracie-girl. After some shuffling around the shop, and some back and forth banter and searching between the elderly couple, they emerged from a back room with a little wooden dog that looked just like Gracie to add to the cuckoo clock! He offered to attach it for us no problem, and voila! We had a cuckoo clock.

Although the forest is gorgeous and lovely to drive through, one of the things I wanted the most was to step into the lives of the people who live there. As we passed through several lumbering towns, I caught sight of bowling alleys, diners, tennis courts, and several enormous fam homes. I wondered about the vibrancy and life of these communities. I wanted to experience what it would be like to live in them. Who are these people? How long have they been in these businesses? What meals do they cook? What stories do they tell?

Near Gutach, there is an Open Air Museum where you can step into several of these farm homes and see what farm life has been like in this area over the last 400 years. There are tours of mills, sawmills, storehouses, distilleries, fields, kitchens, gardens, and a chapel. The museum teaches about the architecture, traditions, customs, trades, and the way people lived in the Black Forest through the ages. Unfortunately, the museum is only open in the spring/summer, so we missed out on this one, but I would love to go back!

We settled in the for the evening and prepared for a full-day ahead of us packed with snowshoeing and hiking adventures!

Saturday morning we dawned our winter gear and headed to Feldberg to attempt snowshoeing. As we drove into the Black Forest, we had little hopes of snowshoeing, as there was no snow, just little patches here and there, hardly anything that would even require snow boots, let along snowshoes. As we rose through the hills to Feldberg, however, the heavy fog descended and we were met by a glorious winter wonder-scape. It got cold! We quickly added a few more layers to our bodies before heading out.

We contacted the Naturschutzzentrum Südschwarzwald to find out if any snowshoeing trails would be a possibility, and they were super helpful! There are SOO many trails to pick from, it’s really worth getting their advice. We decided on the Seebuck Trail, which is a 4km trail (it intersects with the Feldberg-Runde trail so you can go another 4km if you want).

See full trail map here.

One of the blessings that made our journey enjoyable was a pomade for dog paws that I stumbled across called Musher’s Secret. We just ordered it from Amazon. We got some and rubbed on Gracie’s paws, and she had no snow/ice build up in her feet and was able to snowshoe with us no problem! (We have kevlar booties for her for snowshoeing, too, but they often fall off and there’s nothing like spending 30 minutes to and hour searching for one little kevlar booty lost in the snow somewhere… to put a damper on your trip.)

At one point, as we trekked up the hillside, Gracie bounded off out of eyesight (probably after a squirrel or something). As we called for her…. She didn’t return. We waited, and waited. Still no Gracie. (Gracie is like my child, okay? So, dog-mom starts to panic over here.) She still doesn’t come. Finally I start down the hill after her where she ran off, and what do I see? Gracie, trying with full force to speedily run though the deepest snow she’s ever been it! It was HILARIOUS to watch. She was basically swimming through the snow trying to anxiously get to us, because she heard us calling for her. I think she learned to stay on the trail after that ;)

We passed several sledders, hikers, skiiers, and made our way up the hillside. After we got about 3 to 4 km in, the fog became increasingly thick! At one point, we couldn’t even see the next trail marker, or in any direction around us. We decided rather than getting lost in the forest up there, to turn around and follow our feet back. I’ve heard the views up there are spectacular… but there was too much fog to see much :P Still, it started snowing! That was a huge plus for me because I’ve really missed having snow this year since I’m used to so much snow back home.

We finished off our day by heading down the to Ravennaschlucht Christmas Market, which is a uniquely-set market surrounding the base of a bridge where the Devil’s Railway crosses. Ravenna Gorge is so-named because Ravine is the French word for Gorge, and in 1796 French troops were retreating through the steep gorge and nicknamed it “hell’s gorge” or the “devil’s gorge”. I imagine it’s much less delightful to hike out than in, as it is quite a steep descent.

As you make your way through the gorge, you stumble into the Christmas market and trains pass overhead as you snack on candied apples, bratwurst, fish and chips, and all the other delicious finds at the Christmas markets. There is a shuttle that will take you down into the gorge, or you can hike down. We wanted to hike originally, but ended up taking the shuttle because it was easier. (You can also take torch-lit walks down into the gorge for a small fee that looked like a lot of fun). Dogs are fine to ride on the shuttles as well and are allowed into the Christmas market.

We had several funny encounters of Gracie scaring the bageebees out of people gently brushing up against their legs behind them. Someone would let out a startle, and then turn around to laugh loudly at a cute little doggie who had bumped them (thinking it had been a person grabbing their legs or something). On the shuttle Gracie started panting in the ear of the woman sitting in front of us, and she about died thinking a human was behind her breathing heavily in her ear...nope. It's just Gracie.

We're getting quite a kick out of everyone seeing Gracie and telling us, "your dog is illegal!" Because she doesn't have a tail. I mean, what is that comment supposed to do for us? It's not like we just carry around a tail we can stick back on her...

We get more stares in Germany than anywhere we ever did in the states, which is such a funny thing to me. It's so normal to me that Gracie doesn't have a tail, but I guess for them it's like seeing a dog walk by with only 3 legs. Gracie gets treats everywhere we go, inevitably someone offers her a dog treat out of their pocket or a piece of their Christmas market food.

She's definitely spoiled.

Sunday we made our last three stops before reaching home.

1. Triberg Waterfalls

2. The World’s Largest Cuckoo Clock

3. Der Baumwipfelpfad

The waterfalls were relaxing and a short walk from House of 1000 Hours. If you stay in Triberg into the evening, you can watch one of the light shows projected onto the waterfall.

The World’s Largest Cuckoo Clock was… well, a giant cuckoo clock. While it was unique to be able to say we’ve actually been inside a cuckoo clock, and to see it’s inner cogs, it wasn’t that exciting of a stop… in fact, it was pretty lame, haha. Still a fun, short stop and now we can say we’ve seen the biggest cuckoo clock in the world.

Baumwipfelpfad had to be one of the coolest experiences on our trip though! I am terrified of heights, and somehow my husband keeps getting me into situations where I have to face them… Is this some type of exposure therapy I don’t know about?

Baumwipfelpfad is a treetop walkway that leads to a tornado-looking walkway that ascends 40 meters into the sky. It is one of 9 other treetop walks throughout Europe. It just so happened to be POURING rain and WINDY on our way up. We got SOAKED and almost felt like we were going to blow off the top! Dogs aren’t allowed on the walkways, sadly, but we felt it was better for Gracie to stay dry anyway because by the time we got back to our car, we were completely soaked through!

There’s also a 25 meter giant slide you can take from the top to the bottom (it’s closed in winter though).

All in all, we enjoyed:

- Scenic Drive (Black Forest High Road)

- Mummelsee and Hornisgrinde Tower

- Mehliskopf Bob Toboggan (didn’t ride though)

- Snowshoeing at Feldberg Ravennaschlucht

- House of Clocks and House of 1000 Hours

- Triberg Waterfalls

- World’s Largest Cuckoo Clock

- Baumwipfelpfad

A few other things that you might enjoy:

Black Forest Panoramic Road is a route through the southern part of the Black Forest. This route is 48 km long and is where the tv series “Black Forest Clinic” was filmed. You’ll get great sights of the Black Forest peaks, Rhine Valley, Voges Mountains, and the Alps. You can stop in at lots of cute villages/towns along the way.

Black Forest Valley Road aka Schwarzwald-Tälerstrasse is another route that will take you to Baden-Baden to the palace of Margravine Augusta (the largest collection of Meissen porcelain in the world). Then you’ll go through Murg Valley, the Schwarzenbach Dam, and you’ll run into the Black Forest High Road route.

Here’s a list of thermal baths throughout the black forest region.

There is also a Black Forest Spa-Route, which is 270km of road that takes you through several spa-towns.

hiking trails throughout the Black Forest including Wutach Gorge

Visit a cute German Town such as:

Gengenbach: Each year Gengenbach has a larger-than-life advent calendar in their town hall. Each evening at 6pm a new window is opened and reveals a picture by a famous artist. The event is accompanied by music and different theater acts. The Christmas market runs from 30 November to 23 December 2019. Monday through Friday 2pm-8pm, Saturday through Sunday 12pm to 8pm.

Schiltach: This 13th century town is surrounded by the forest and at the junction of 3 rivers. It became the hub of the Black Forest for timber rafting and tanning hides. There are two free museums (museum am mark and the apothecary museum). The Schüttesäge Museum is about the former sawmill work from 1491 to 1931. There you can see a giant water wheel more than 7 meters in diameter. The town is quite cute and worth a walking tour.

Guided Snowshoe tours at House of Nature next to the Feldberg ski lift.

All trails are clearly marked, and you can get a trail map for free.

You can also hire a guide for a fee.

There are many mountain huts/lodges along the trails where you can stop, relax, recharge, and eat Black Forest Ham, sausages, cake, and drinks. Based on snow conditions tours are provided every Sunday from December until March at noon.

Start point: Haus der Natur, Dr. Pilet Spur 1, 79868 Feldberg

Distance: 12.5 km

Time estimate: 5 hours

Terrain: Deep snow and slippery at places

Difficulty Rating: Moderate to difficult. Not stroller or small child friendly.

Detailed info: www.hochschwarzwald.de

Details on snowshoeing

Seebuck Trail

They even have “murder mystery” guided snow showing tours (must have 8 people, no dogs allowed).