Trekking Camps in the Black Forest

The air is clear and the sky a delicate shade of blue – perfect hiking weather. Only the wisps of steam rising from the ground reveal that just moments ago, the rain was bucketing down, sending us scurrying for shelter beneath dense conifer branches and wondering whether it would carry on like this. After all, this is only day one of our three-day trek through the Northern Black Forest. What we are planning to do here is normally forbidden: camping in the heart of the forest. But in the trekking camps in the Central/North Black Forest Nature Park visitors can officially pitch their tents.

The camps have nothing more than a fire pit and a composting toilet. All around, there is only nature, forest and wilderness. You need to bring all your own gear and supplies – including a tent, sleeping bag, food, toilet paper and a torch. That morning, over breakfast at the hotel, the gentleman at the next table had offered us a piece of advice: ‘Just keep heading towards the patch of blue sky.’ That way, dark clouds would not dampen our spirits. Only later do we realise just how much hiking wisdom those words contain.

We soon leave Freudenstadt’s beautiful historic market square behind as the dense greenery of the Black Forest welcomes us. The broad forest tracks soon give way to narrow, winding paths that lead us ever deeper into the forest. The vegetation grows increasingly dense, with head-high ferns encroaching on the path in places. A babbling brook here, a moss-covered slope there. Every so often, the view opens up to reveal towering spruce and fir trees and the magnificent landscape beyond.

By early evening, we reach our first camp for the night and immediately dip our feet into the ice-cold stream beside it. What a relief! By the time we have pitched our tent and cooked some pasta on the camping stove, it feels late. Or so we think – it is only 9 pm. The fire crackles and the stars twinkle overhead. We listen to the sounds of the forest for a while longer before drifting off to sleep, happy and exhausted.

On the second day, the trail takes us past several natural attractions. From a distance, we can already see Lake Sankenbachsee glistening through the trees. A narrow path winds along the rock face to the Sankenbach Waterfalls. At first, they appear to be no more than a trickle splashing down the rocks – but then comes the highlight: the water is held back, and hikers can open the sluice gate to ‘release’ the waterfall.

From the viewing platform, we look out over Lake Ellbachsee before following rocky paths down to the lake, which has an almost mystical atmosphere. Although the sun is shining, a veil of mist seems to hang over the water – we would not have been surprised to see elves and fairies. Dusk is falling by the time we have pitched our tent at the camp. Once again, we settle into our sleeping bags early. This means we are up all the earlier the next morning, splashing our faces with water from the mountain stream. After breakfast, we set off on the final leg to Baiersbronn, where we catch the train back to Freudenstadt. After just three days, we have developed not only a sense of Robinson Crusoe-style adventure, but also a relaxed feeling of lightness.