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Car park in Schönau (Pfalz) Gebüger Straße.
(S/E) Leave the car park and turn right towards the east. Pass the fire station on your left and head towards the main junction of the L488 and Gebüger Straße. Cross and continue straight ahead.
Signposting: Black Castle Tour on White Background
Walk up Wegelnburger Straße. A road will come up on your right, continue straight ahead. At the crossroads, take the road opposite, Am Köpfel. The road turns sharply to the left and then to the right. At the fork, go right. Walk past one last house, the road becomes a dirt track as it enters the forest.
(1) Look for the path on your right and climb up. The path winds its way up to a wider forest track. Continue straight ahead. Climb further eastwards. At the next forest track, turn right for a few steps.
(2) Take the hairpin path on your left and then on your right. Continue climbing until you reach the next forest path and turn right. Further on, take the path on your left and continue climbing. At the next forest path, turn right again.
(3) Then follow the path on your left, which winds a little before reaching the border with the Brauntal nature reserve, marked by a boundary stone. Walk along the Schusselfels, a mass of pink sandstone. Turn right at the next boundary stone and, at thethird boundary stone, a little further on, take the path downhill on your right. The path turns left and leads to a forest track, which you take to the right. At the bend, take the path on your left and you will come to a forest hut further down.
(4) With your back to the hut, go straight ahead and take the left fork.
(5) At the next fork, turn right.
Follow the markings and directions carefully, as the path takes more detours than shown on the map until you reach (6)
At the crossroads, continue straight ahead. The path turns right and climbs. At the forest road, turn left.
(6) At the fork, keep to your left. A little further on, a path returns to your left; continue straight ahead for about 500 metres.
(7) Before the bend, take the path on your left. Walk along the Langerfels, a pink sandstone barrier with a balcony path. Climb a few steps and you will come to the forest path, which you take to the right.
(8) At the crossroads, turn left and keep left until you reach the signpost. Take the path to the left of the signpost. At the forest path, turn right and then immediately left onto the path going uphill. You will arrive at Wegelnburg Castle.
After visiting the castle ruins, continue along the wide forest path downhill, passing various rocks called Krotenstuhl and Kaiser Wilhlem Turm, and head towards the hut. Continue straight ahead, cross the border, and you are now in France.
(9) At the wide forest path, continue straight ahead to the Maidenbrunnen spring. Take the path uphill to the right of the spring. At the ruins of Honenbourg Castle, continue towards the ruins of Loewenstein Castle. At the information boards for the castle, turn right and descend. At the path, turn right and take the trail on your left, continue downhill to the crossroads, then turn left and finally go straight ahead. Pass the Hohenbourg Pass.
(10) At the fork, take the rocky path (if it is raining or if you have young children, take the easier path on the right; they meet at the bottom of the descent), descend along the Langenfels climbing rocks.
(11) At the bottom, you will find the Flekenstein Castle car park (the only one where you have to pay to visit). Go around the building to the left and cross the courtyard with the ticket office on your right. Walk along the picnic area and keep to the left when the path splits to visit the castle itself. Go downhill and continue straight ahead at the multiple crossroads. Continue along a narrow path. It turns sharply to the left and leads to a wide forest path.
(12) At the bottom, turn right. Follow the path until you reach the road. Cross carefully and go over the bridge over the Sauer. Take the path (GR®®531) on the left along the river. Keep left at the fork. Keep left again at the next fork.
(13) At the farm, turn right between the buildings, pass them and turn left at the first crossroads. After walking along the fence of the next house, turn right and then right again.
(14) At the fork, turn left at the sign for "Zone de silence de Steinbach" (Steinbach quiet zone). Follow this path for just under 1 km. Another path joins it on your right, but ignore it. Take the path on the right a few steps further on. Climb up to the last castle on the route, Froensbourg Castle.
Go around the castle on the left. At the multiple crossroads, ignore the black castle on a white background signposting for a short while, which suggests you go straight ahead, and climb up to the right to reach the entrance to Froensbourg Castle. After visiting the ruins of this castle, take the red rectangleGR®®5markings to the left of the information panel for a short while until you rejoin the original black castle on white background markings further on. You will then come to a wide path, which you should take to the left.
(15) Take the path on your right. You will come to another forest path, which you should follow to the left.
(16) At the bend, take the path on your left and join a forest track, which you follow to the right until you reach the Col de Hitchenbach. At the multiple crossroads with a shelter, take the path ascending to the left of it towards the north. Abandon the markings.
No markings
(17) At the top, turn right, cross the border and keep to the path in front of you. Follow a wide forest track for about 1 km.
(18) Keep left at the next two forks; a path joins you on your left, continue along it. The path turns sharply to the right and descends to a crossroads. Go straight ahead down the descending path, leave the forest and reach some houses. At the crossroads, turn right and leave the houses behind.
(19) At the high-voltage power lines, take the path on the left, descend to a road and continue on the left. At the main road, turn right and return to the car park (S/E).
Visorando member
Moderate 
Easy 
Tourism professional
Very difficult 
