Through the Baybach Gorge

(Start/Finish) The walk begins and ends at a walkers’ car park near Heyweiler and follows a clockwise route. Immediately after the entrance to the ‘Traumschleife’, turn left. Here, we walk to the first junction, leave the path and continue straight ahead onto a wider track.

(1) After about 500 m, we come to a fork, where we carry on straight ahead. After a further 45 m, we turn right.

(2) We cross the Schüsselbach, head uphill again and turn right at the next junction. After about 125 m, in a left-hand bend, we follow the path to the left. After about 145 m, in a right-hand bend, we follow the path to the right, then to the left again and then to the right once more. After a further 160 m, we cross a dirt track straight ahead and follow its course into a left-hand bend. Here, we follow the path for about 30 m to the junction in front of the Steffenshof.

(3) Here we turn left and, at the next junction, we turn right, staying at the edge of the woodland and walking past the farm. After 200 m, we walk straight on past a junction, a bus stop and a car park, and continue on to the next junction. Here, we carry on straight ahead along a path and, after about 70 m, back into the woods. Here, we cross a stream several times and soon reach a forest track again.

(4) We now follow this path to the right (north). After about 300 metres, we cross the stream to the right-hand side. After a further 300 metres, we cross back to the left to the other side of the stream. Here we pass two former mines and, after about 150 metres, cross back again and follow the stream on the right-hand side once more. After a further 360 m, we reach the first hazardous section and, a few metres further on, find ourselves in the Baybach Gorge proper.

(5) We now follow the Baybach for about 1.3 km until we cross over to the other side to the left. We follow the stream for a few more metres and arrive at the Schmausemühle.

(6) Here we turn right, cross the stream and then immediately turn left again. At the next junction, we keep to the left and continue straight on along the Baybach. After about 1.4 km, we leave the Baybach to the right.

(7) From here, we follow the Frankenweiler Bach at a slight distance. After about 700 metres, we briefly cross to the other side and return a few metres further on. There we come to a junction and keep to the right.

(8) We follow this path to the edge of the wood, where we come to a dirt track; we continue along this to the right.

(9) Here, we walk straight on for about 500 m along the edge of the woodland. At the corner, we continue straight on along the path into the woodland, until we reach the junction and the rest area. Here, we turn left and, at the next fork, turn right again, walking for about 90 m along the edge of the woodland. At the corner of the path, we follow the path into the woodland.

(10) We follow this path and, after about 360 m, pass a pond; after a further 50 m, we come to a fork. Here, we keep to the right, following the path. After 400 m, we turn right and soon cross a track.

(11) A little further on, straight ahead, there is another viewpoint after a few metres. However, just before it, we must turn left and, 280 metres further on, turn left again; we’ll reach our destination a few steps further on.
(Start/Finish)

Warning! The gorge is not accessible in icy or snowy conditions! Some sections of the gorge are secured with ropes and require good, sturdy footwear and sure-footedness.
There are plenty of places to rest along the way, as well as a few shelters. And there are some lovely vantage points.

I’ve documented this walk, along with more photos, on my personal blog.

The Schmausemühle offers a place to stop for refreshments.