Four climbs and descents in the northern Black Forest

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This relatively short ride (62 kilometers) runs through a beautiful part of the northern Black Forest. As is the case everywhere in this mountain range, the green of the forests predominates, and in the lowest parts of the route, the road runs through meadows and past farms, hamlets, and the occasional village. The ride is quite tough, with nearly 1,900 meters of elevation gain spread over four climbs. If you start at Ruhestein, the first 10 kilometers are on the Schwarzwaldhochstraße, which has only a slight uphill and downhill slope—a road with a promising name, but unfortunately wide and without sharp bends, allowing cars and motorcycles to drive quite fast. So, this requires some perseverance, but for the rest of the ride, the roads are quiet or very quiet. From the Schwarzwaldhochstraße, we descend to Oppenau via the village of Maisach. Just before Oppenau, we turn right and cycle up the K5370 towards Allerheiligen, climbing slightly. After just over 4 kilometers, we turn sharply left, followed by a short, steep climb to the Rinkenpass (70 vertical meters). This is followed by a descent to Ramsbach in the Renchtal. From this valley, we climb another 270 vertical meters to Kalikutt before returning to the Renchtal. We emerge somewhat lower in this valley, at Lautenbach. Then follows the most beautiful and exciting part of the tour: a climb through delightful scenery to Sohlberg and the subsequent, partially particularly steep descent to the village of Unterwasser. There we turn right to climb the moderately steep road to Ruhestein, the starting point of the ride.

This tour can also be easily completed in the reverse direction. Again there are four substantial climbs, namely (in this order if the start is at Ruhestein): Sohlberg-northwest, Kalikutt North, Rinkenpass-west and Zuflucht-southwest. The first one is particularly steep, including a 250-meter stretch of 17%. The climb to Zuflucht ranks in the Black Forest top 20.