The Palatinate Forest Trail - Day 2 from Erfweiler to Hermersberger Hof

At the end of our ten-day tour, the Dahner Felsenland was on the agenda today. We started in Erfweiler with a leisurely climb towards the eastern Hochstein massif, south of Dahn, and soon came across the first castle, Altdahn Castle. It is beautifully situated on the saddle of the massif. Unfortunately, this castle was also closed, so we were unable to pay it a visit. We continued uphill on the saddle to the Hochstein. Here we left the Palatinate Forest Trail, as it would have led straight back down into the valley, and walked uphill to the Hochstein. The Hochstein is a small rock massif with a great view of the Wieslauter valley. The Soldatenhütte is also beautiful here, a cave open on two sides, also with a wide view of the valley.

As we continued towards Dahn, we passed the Dahn cemetery of honour and St Michael's Chapel. It is a military cemetery from the Second World War and is characterised by its difference from other military cemeteries. Beautifully laid out on a slope with old stone crosses, it offers the opportunity to pause for a moment and reflect on senseless human behaviour.

In Dahn, we passed the foot of the Jungfernsprung. Right at the foot of the high rock is a spring or fountain right by the road. According to legend, a young woman gathered fruit high up on the rock. A young knight on a hunt made her afraid and so she saw no other way out than to throw herself off the rock. But, oh wonder, her dress puffed out and she floated down to the ground and where her foot touched the ground, a spring of the purest water appeared. From the aforementioned well, we climbed up to the Jungfernsprung. We followed the mountain saddle over the Vogelsberg and the Lachberg for several kilometres. A beautiful route, constantly following the rocks, with lovely resting places.

The loop around Dahn was now complete and we arrived back in the north of Erfweiler. The landscape now changed, the rocks became fewer and we began the ascent to the Winterkirchel forest chapel. You are welcome to light a candle in the chapel, which is open to one side, and if you feel like it, you can even ring the bells, which can be heard from afar. On the way further on, we came across the natural monument "Dicke Eiche". The mighty sessile oak stood here until 2010 and was the site of many May Day celebrations. Its demise was heralded back in 1994 when it was damaged by a chainsaw and then slowly died.

From the Dicken Eiche, we slowly descended into the Queich valley towards Hauenstein. We passed the paddle pond with its supply hut and walked up and down past Hauenstein with beautiful views. Shortly before the end of today's stage, at the Wilgartswiesen resting forest, we visited the ruins of Falkenburg Castle and an old Celtic road. The Celtic road, also known as the Falkenburger Steige, is a relic from Celtic and Roman times up to the Middle Ages. The iron fittings of the wagon wheels dug deep into the red sandstone at this rock breakthrough, leaving deep ruts that are still visible today

Watch the video of the tour here:

The tour on Komoot: