Westweg-Etappe 12 (Ost) Schweigmatt - Oberminseln

Geologically speaking, the Dinkelberg is no longer part of the Black Forest. With its perforated karst soil, it is a small mountain range in its own right with numerous special landscape features. The intensive agricultural use with forest, meadows, fruit trees and fields make the stage over the elongated ridge of the Dinkelberg an entertaining undertaking despite the often wide farm tracks.

From Schweigmatt, steep paths lead first over mountain meadows and then through the beech forest down to the Schammernbach stream. On the outskirts of Hasel, the Westweg turns right and crosses the Entengraben, behind which the actual Dinkelberg begins with fields, meadows and orchards. The path now leads through a landscape characterized by many, sometimes steep depressions in the ground. These are the remains of sinkholes, collapse funnels of underlying cavities in the perforated karst. After crossing the main road, you reach Lake Eichen - if you can see it at all. This is because Lake Eichen is a karst lake that only appears temporarily and is fed by irregularly leaking groundwater, regardless of the weather. The trail continues to follow the height of the Dinkelberg, sometimes across meadows and past orchards, then through forest again. Finally, after a short steep climb, you reach the highest point of the Kalkstock: the Hohe Flum (536m). From the observation tower, you can look out over the surrounding orchards into the nearby Wiesental or Rhine Valley and back to the Hohe Möhr, which now seems a long way away. You then descend to Oberminseln.