Kirchbühl-Weg KC 64

Immediately after the parking lot at the sports hall in Großvichtach, we enter the forest. We head clockwise and hike steadily uphill on a pleasant forest path. When the path forks after about 700 meters, we keep to the right and continue uphill through the spruce forest, which is interspersed with some deciduous trees, to Markgrafenhöhe. At an intermediate height, we come across the Frankenweg, which branches off to the left over the Markgrafenhöhe towards Zeyern.

However, we follow the main hiking trail in the opposite direction through the forest to the Kirchbühl chapel. Along the way, there are beautiful views of the valley landscape and the Kronacher Land region.

It is the site of the former hamlet of Kirchbühl. We know from Roland Graf that the former settlement of Kirchbühl, which consisted of two farms, was demonstrably inhabited from 1323 to 1880. The last farmer sold his property to the state forest in 1882. The chapel belonging to the Catholic estate was built in 1841. As the border between the margraviate and the prince-bishopric ran between the two estates, there were often disputes between the farm belonging to Seibelsdorf (Protestant) and the farm belonging to Zeyern (Catholic). Today, only those in the know can still recognize the remains of the former settlement.

At this spur, our circular hiking trail turns right and continues uphill quite steeply along the Frankenweg.

Before reaching the summit, we recommend a very short detour to the left into the forest to a wayside shrine on this mountain spur, which is reminiscent of Kirchbühl. Friedrich Engelhardt once had it erected in 1761. He was the owner of the Catholic farm. It bears the name of a government forester by the name of Fröhlich, who had this wayside shrine moved to this spot. The forestry administration had it restored in 2006.

We hike further uphill in the forest. Walking slightly downhill, we soon come to a spider trail. We only keep to the right for a very short time on the Frankenweg. The Kohlbach-Radspitz-Weg (KC 68) takes us on a short extra loop to the Radspitz tower and the Radspitzalm in Mittelberg. This detour is 1.2 km long.

If we don't go to Mittelberg, we immediately leave the markings of all the other hiking trails and turn right onto a natural forest path. We walk downhill along the easy path in the high forest and follow it slightly to the right at the crossroads. On the way, the view opens up over the wooded steep slope down to the narrow bottom of the Wurbach. When we reach the village of the same name, we have a wonderful view of the Rodach valley and the hedgerow landscape. Soon after, our path divides, still in the middle of the forest. In a straight direction, we would come to Waldbuch.

But we keep to the right and continue downhill along the same path for a short distance. At the edge of the forest, we are once again greeted by a beautiful view of the Rodach Valley and the steep drop of the Franconian Line, which we hiked up and down. We come to the cul-de-sac that leads us to the right to the nearby idyllic village of Wurbach, 379 m above sea level. In the village, the tower hill, which was leveled in 1930, reminds us of its long history. We walk straight ahead through the center of the village and continue on a natural field path through the meadows. The impressive view increases up to a small hill, and it is worth enjoying the view for a while. As we continue, the forest soon surrounds us again. We walk through this not too large wooded area and reach our starting point again at its edge, the parking lot of the Großvichtach sports club.