Country:
District:
Our hike begins at the Upper Castle, now the town hall in Schmidmühlen (Rathausstraße). There is a car park directly next to the town hall where you can park your car.
(S) From the car park, keep left down Rathausstraße and turn left at the next junction into Poststraße. Cross the bridge over the Lauterach and continue straight ahead at the pedestrian traffic lights across the main road. Follow the signs with the juniper bush and take Brunnlettstraße slightly to the right up the slope. Further up, the street name changes to Harschhofer Straße.
(1) At the end of Harschhofer Straße, you will come to the cycle path. To the right of the cycle path is a narrow path for hikers on the Wacholderwanderweg. Continue along the Vils river. Soon the path turns into a tarred road. Walk left past the Harschhof, which is idyllically situated on the other bank of the Vils.
(2) After about 500 metres, we come to the Markhof. We cross the courtyard, with the courtyard chapel on the left. Behind the Markhof, the path bends slightly to the left and comes to a crossroads. There is a small bridge on the right, but we continue straight ahead.
(3) Behind the first large juniper bush on the hike (after a few metres on the right), the path forks. The Wacholderweg turns right and leads us up into the forest. The path continues slightly uphill through the shady forest. At the first fork, follow the signs straight ahead, and at the second fork, keep half to the right.
Continue through the forest; the path is well signposted. If you miss the sign for the Wacholderwanderweg at a crossroads, simply look a few metres down the individual paths. There is usually a sign in the direction of travel after 10 metres at the latest.
When you come out of the forest, you will pass a field on your left and a bench on your right where you can rest or have your first picnic. The path bends slightly to the left and you can already see the next village, Hammerberg, in the distance. The dirt road leads directly to Hammerberg. Pirkenhof and Ofen are on your left, and Vilshofen comes into view on your right.
(4) Behind the chapel in Hammerberg, we turn slightly to the right and then immediately left at the next crossroads. At the sign marking the end of the village, we continue straight ahead. (A winding path leads to the next village on the left, and a little further on, a road leads to the right.)
(5) We stay on the middle road and pass a kind of shed on the left. In rainy seasons, there is also a small pond here, a so-called HÜLL, where rainwater is stored and can be used for firefighting purposes. At the fork behind the shed, we keep to the right.
Follow the signs through the forest and after about 200 metres, cross the forest road straight ahead. The trail now descends into the Blaugrund. At a small clearing, follow the signs and take the left-hand path. Continue through the forest. The turnoffs are sometimes complicated, but always very well signposted, so you can easily follow the Wacholderwanderweg (Juniper Trail).
When you reach the edge of the forest, continue straight ahead across the fields for a short distance until you reach the main road. Keep to the right here, then cross the road and turn left towards Greiding. The village of Winbuch is on your right.
(6) After about 350 metres, the hiking trail (second dirt road, signposted) turns left across the fields into the quiet Mühltal valley. In summer, large thistles grow in the meadows here, attracting countless butterflies and insects. At the end of the path is the state road 2235 (from Schmidmühlen to Hohenburg).
(7) About 20 metres before we reach the road, turn right onto the meadow. The path is not particularly well-trodden and therefore not very easy to see. From here, we are on the dry grassland and juniper heaths of the Lauterach Valley.
If you look up towards the edge of the forest, you will see the sign for the Wacholderwanderweg (juniper hiking trail). There is no actual path, as this is private land, a meadow that is mowed at regular intervals. For this reason, we are asked not to walk across the meadow if possible, but to keep to the right-hand side of the forest edge as much as possible.
We now walk parallel to the main road along the southern slope of the Lauterach Valley for some time. The Lauterach river accompanies us on the left down in the valley. We pass Brunnmühle. On the nutrient-poor grassland on the slope, we encounter juniper bushes again.
(8) At Brunnhof, we reach a farm track. We turn left and follow the path for about 50 metres. At the next fork, we take the paved path up to the right. Then we keep slightly to the left and follow the narrow nature trail along the edge of the forest, parallel to the road below us on the left.
(9) At the end of the path, we come to a small pumping station, whose yellow building can be seen from afar. At the pumping station, we keep to the gravel path on the left and cross the bridge on the main road. After the bridge, we turn right and follow the paved road uphill towards Aicha.
Here, we leave the municipality of Schmidmühlen and enter the municipality of Hohenburg. Halfway up the path, directly in the bend (right-hand bend), we leave the paved road and continue straight ahead into the shady forest of pine and beech trees. The path descends slightly through the Pfeiffertal valley and turns left at the fork.
After crossing a paved road, we walk parallel to the state road through the Lauterach Valley again.
The Wacholderwanderweg trail runs alongside the Jurasteig trail on this section. Keep to the right of the road and continue on the gravel path. After 30 metres, turn left up the slope.
We walk along the edge of the forest parallel to the valley. After crossing a paved road, we take a narrow path through the forest. From the bench, there is a wonderful view of the Lauterach Valley and Adertshausen. On the opposite side of the valley is the US Army training area.
On the right, you will pass a small quarry. If you like fossils, you can look for a few fossils from the Jurassic Sea. Continue along the gravel road alongside the crash barriers and then cross a footbridge. On the right, you will see a triangular sign with a green border and the words "Landschaftsschutzgebiet" (landscape conservation area). Walk up the slope there. The path leads you across dry grassland above the road and the Lauterach.
(10) We follow a paved path for a short distance and arrive in the village of Adertshausen. At the first fork, we keep to the right and walk towards a crossroads. We cross the road and take the path half left and then immediately right over the fork, which is lined with grass pavers. At the fork, we go slightly left, then left again.
(11) After a short distance, we come to the edge of the valley with a few rocks. Opposite, the ruins of Hohenburg Castle greet us with its three distinctive wall points, located in the middle of the military training area.
The path continues through the juniper heath. When you reach the meadow path, keep to the right, then immediately take the left-hand path, which leads into a sparse forest. When you leave the forest, turn right. At the first fork, keep to the left. At the edge of the forest, the hiking trail makes a sharp turn to the left down into the valley. At the hedge, turn right up the sunken path and through a sparse pine forest.
(12) If you would like to take a break, you can make a short detour to the Burggarten inn (Stettkirchen). The path is well signposted and only takes a few minutes. From the terrace, you have a wonderful view of the Lauterach Valley.
(13) Otherwise, continue straight ahead. After just a few minutes' walk, you will see the pilgrimage church of St. Joseph von Stettkirchen at the bottom of the road. This is also worth a short detour, especially as the narrow path runs just a few metres above the church, directly towards Hohenburg.
(14) If you want to stay overnight in Hohenburg, turn left at the entrance to the village and follow Jakobusstraße over the Lauterach bridge directly into the village centre, following its S-shaped course. On the left-hand side of the road is the Hohenburg bat house. The last nursery of the greater horseshoe bat is located in the roof truss of the house.
(E) The destination of today's stage is the market square in Hohenburg.
Visorando member
