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Arrival by public transport to Weinheim main station:
- RE 60 from Frankfurt or Mannheim
- RB 67/68 from Frankfurt
- RB 68 from Heidelberg
and then take RNV line 5 to Großsachsen station
or from Heidelberg Central Station with RNV line 5 towards Weinheim to the Großsachen Bahnhof stop
Departure from Schriesheim with RNV line 5 to Weinheim main station, then continue with
- RE 60 towards Frankfurt or Mannheim
- RB 68 towards Heidelberg
- RB 67/68 towards Frankfurt
or with RNV line 5 in the other direction to Heidelberg main station
(S) Your tour starts at Großsachsen station. Walk along Friedrich-Ebert-Straße and continue slightly uphill until you reach the Brunnengasse crossroads. Turn left into Brunnengasse and then right again at the next opportunity (Winzerweg)
After approx. 120 m, turn left onto a dirt road at Büttemerweg. The path leads you between vineyards until you reach a paved road again. Here, turn right and then immediately left and walk towards the outskirts of Hohensachsen.
(1) You will reach Brunnengasse, with the signpost of the same name on your left. Turn right towards Grube Marie and the Hirschburg ruins and walk uphill along Brunnengasse. At the end of Brunnengasse, the paved road turns into a dirt track. Follow this track straight ahead.
(2) You will reach the Marie in der Kohlbach visitor mine. There is also a table and bench here where you can take a short break. Walk past this and continue uphill until you reach a wide forest path, then turn right.
(3) After a few metres, turn left again and pass a forest kindergarten on your right. Continue uphill along the forest path.
(4) After a left-hand bend, you will come to a biotope, the Gallenberg meadow. An information board tells you about its origins. If you have time and feel like it, you can take a short walk around it.
Immediately after the information board, climb a few steps to the left. Here, you leave the Burgensteig trail and hike up to the 283-metre-high Hundskopf.
(5) At the highest point, you will reach a shelter with seating where you can take a breather. Walk past the shelter and continue downhill. At the bottom, you will come to a gravel forest path. Turn left here and shortly afterwards right again onto a narrow path. At the next fork, take the right-hand path.
The trail continues downhill. You will come to a wider path, turn right and see the Burgensteig sign again (blue castle on a white background). Turn left again and hike down the winding path to the "Talstraße". Cross this road with caution, turn left towards Kunz'sche Mühle and turn right again before the health food shop.
(6) You will come to another signpost and continue walking towards the Hirschburg ruins.
(7) In a sharp right-hand bend, you will see a fountain, the Höllenquelle(Hell's Spring). There is a rest area above it. Continue to follow the forest path ("Höllenquellenweg") uphill.
(8) Opposite a paddock, you will find another rest area in the left-hand bend. Walk past it and keep to the right ("Margarethenruhweg"). This path is part of the Hirschberg forest nature trail. You will now pass many informative boards about the flora and fauna.
(9) You will pass an amphibian pond. If you have time and are feeling inspired, you may be able to spot one of the amphibians featured on the display board.
(10) Shortly afterwards, you will reach a shelter with several seats. Follow the forest path and you will pass the start and end points of the forest nature trail.
Continue along the forest path out of the forest and downhill to the Kehrrang rest area.
(11) This is one of the few rest areas with a fire pit (please observe the regulations in force at the time of year). At the signpost there, continue towards Spatschlucht and the Hirschberg ruins. You will reach a fork in the path and keep to the right, where the path leads slightly downhill.
(12) You will pass a playground, cross the Staudenbächle stream and walk uphill until you reach a T-junction. Turn left here. After a while, you will see a few steps on the right. Climb these and follow the narrow path until you come to a wider path. Turn left here. A signpost points the way to the Hirschburg ruins.
(13) You now have two options: either keep to the right and walk around the hill with the remains of Hirschburg Castle, or climb straight up the narrow path, look at the remains of the castle and descend on the other side.
Whichever option you choose, you will come back to a wider forest path, turn right and continue uphill. You will come to a kind of plateau and take the second path on the right, which leads you further uphill. The signpost for the Burgensteig trail will help you find your way.
After several metres uphill, you will reach a crossroads with an information board about the Schanzenköpfle ruins.
(14) You can also make a detour up the hill. You can roughly guess where the fortification might once have been. It's not really worth the effort.
At the crossroads, take the wide forest path downhill. At the next fork, keep left and stay on the wide forest path.
(15) After a while, you will come to a shelter at a large crossroads. Take the third path on the right (follow the signs for the Burgensteig). After several bends on this wide forest path, turn right onto a narrow path. The path descends steeply.
At the next intersection, turn left and then immediately right onto a very narrow path that continues downhill. At the bottom, you will come to a road. Turn left here and then right again shortly afterwards. Cross the Weitetalbach stream via a footbridge.
(16) On the other side, the path climbs steeply again and you reach the Spatschlucht gorge. Walk through it and down the path on the other side until you reach a wider road. Turn left here and keep right at the next fork.
(17) You will pass the Ev. Waldheim Spatschlucht and walk straight towards an information board. This provides interested hikers with information about mining in the region, especially about the underground mining of heavy spar. To the left of the information board, continue along a narrow path. At the next fork, turn right. You will reach a wide path, cross it and continue hiking uphill, following the narrow path.
(18) You will pass several deep holes, known as pingen. An information board on the hill explains what they are. Now the trail descends again. You will come to a T-junction and continue to the left. A few metres later, turn right in a left-hand bend onto a narrow path. You will come to a wider forest path again, turn right and continue downhill to the "Talstraße". Once there, turn right, cross the "Talstraße" with caution and walk past the Schriesheim forest swimming pool.
(19) At the end of the car park, you will find a place to stop for refreshments on the left-hand side called Heidis Imbiss. After the snack bar, turn left at the next opportunity, walk up the wide path and turn right again at the next opportunity.
(20) You will come to a sign saying "Naturschutzgebiet/Biotop" (nature reserve/biotope). Here, turn right onto a narrow path that leads you through this biotope and back onto a wide path on the other side. This route takes you off the Burgensteig for a short while.
Continue to the right on the wide path. In the next left-hand bend, you will see a narrow path on the left that leads you up the slope. You will reach a wide path again, go a short distance to the left and then immediately turn right onto a narrow path that continues uphill.
Now it becomes a little difficult to recognise the path. You are heading towards a raised hide. At the raised hide, go left past the feeding station and straight ahead until you reach a gravel path. You are now back on the Burgensteig trail. After this little adventure, walk along the wide gravel path to the right and turn left at the next crossroads.
(21) At the next fork, turn sharp right. Continue straight ahead on this gravel path until you reach a fork with a sign for Oberer Geisenbachweg.
(22) Keep right towards OEG Bf Schriessheim, Burgruine Strahlenburg. You will pass another signpost on your left, but stay on this path towards Strahlenburg. After a few metres, you will reach the edge of the field and have a view over Schriesheim. Here, follow the path to the right and down to the car park. Cross this car park towards the castle gate.
(23) In front of the castle gate, a few steps branch off to the right. Go down these steps and follow the narrow path until you reach a paved road called Burgweg. Follow Burgweg downhill until you reach Schmale Seite.
(24) Continue left until you reach the Talstraße intersection opposite the Gasthaus zur goldenen Rose. Turn right next to the inn onto Hofstraße and walk along and over the Kanzelbach stream until you reach the new town hall.
(25) Then turn left, turn right onto Talstraße and then turn left at the intersection in front of the fire station onto Bismarckstraße.
(26) At the "Bahnhofstraße" intersection, turn right. Now walk about 200 metres along "Bahnhofstraße", past a playground, turn left once more and you will see your destination for the day, the train station in Schriesheim (E).
Visorando member
Moderate 
Easy 
Association / Club / Walk leader
