Westweg-Etappe 03: Forbach - Unterstmatt

The main Black Forest ridge is calling! Via Badener Höhe and Hochkopf, the Westweg reaches the highest regions of the northern Black Forest on its third stage. The climate becomes noticeably harsher, the mountains steeper and the paths gnarlier. Lake Herrenwieser See lies enchanted, surrounded by fairytale forest. And along the Black Forest High Road, the Westweg is in top form - with views of the Rhine Valley.

From the historic wooden bridge over the Murg, the Westweg leads straight through the old town of Forbach. Past the Maria Hilf Chapel, it climbs up through one of the romantic, quiet hayloft valleys. The first 450-metre ascent to Wegscheid really gets your legs going early in the morning. Your calves can relax again on the gentle descent down to the Schwarzenbach reservoir. The dam, the largest lake in the northern Black Forest, feeds the Forbach pumped storage power station, whose huge penstocks down into the Murg Valley are just a short detour away from the Westweg. A further 350 meters in altitude make the long ascent from the Murg Valley up to the first "thousand-metre peaks" of the northern Black Forest perfect. The steep, rocky path up to the Seekopf (1,001 m) leads past the tranquil Herrenwieser See, whose 170-metre-high Karwand is considered the highest in the northern Black Forest. At the memorial stone for Philipp Bussemer, one of the two pioneers of the Black Forest Association who first marked out the Westweg, a quiet bench under the rhododendrons invites you to take a rest. Just one meter higher is the Badener Höhe (1,002 m) with the Friedrichsturm tower visible from afar. At Kurhaus Sand, one of numerous once magnificent high-altitude hotels that are now slowly falling into disrepair, the Westweg meets the Black Forest High Road, which it follows all the way to Hundseck. A final ascent takes hikers up to the Hochkopf, the first Grinden summit on the Westweg. The trail leads through a rustic high moor and heathland landscape down to the Unterstmatt spa hotel.