Hiking on the Palatinate Forest Trail - Today: Day 5 from Johanniskreuz to Kaiserslautern

After five stages, our tour on the Palatinate Forest Trail ends today with a total of 146 kilometres from Schweigen-Rechtenbach to Kaiserslautern. Today's stage was all about water. Lots of springs and fountains, a long section through the Moosalbe valley and several ponds accompanied us on the tour.

We started our day's stage in the small hamlet of Johanniskreuz. Johanniskreuz is a popular meeting point for motorcyclists, hikers and mountain bikers. A snack bar, pubs and the House of Sustainability offer the opportunity to take a break here. We left Johanniskreuz and after a few minutes' walk we descended into the Moosalbe valley and came across the Moosalbsprung, the source of the Moosalbe. For the next eleven kilometres of the tour, we followed its course down the valley.

The Moosalbe valley not only offers an exceptionally beautiful landscape, but also a number of industrial monuments. The valley was already characterised by industry in the 18th century and hammer mills, which were powered by the waters of the Moosalbe, were used for iron smelting and iron working. The valley is also known as Hammertal and the names of the settlements are reminiscent of this period: Oberhammer, Mittelhammer and Unterhammer. Two Wooge (ponds) were also built in the Hammertal to supply these hammer mills. At the end of the valley is the former rolling mill with the rolling pond, where the iron was processed. The Karlstal Gorge is located within the Hammer Valley and is around four kilometres long. It is a largely natural and rocky narrow valley and the most beautiful section of the valley. The only downside was the crowds of people during our visit on Sunday afternoon. So if you want to visit the gorge, avoid the weekend when the weather is nice. There was simply hell to pay!

The Palatinate Forest Trail
The Palatinate Forest Trail has an official length of 142 kilometres and runs from Kaiserslautern to Schweigen-Rechtenbach, in the very southeast of the Palatinate Forest. It was opened in 2011 and runs entirely through the Palatinate Forest. The ascent and descent on the entire route are each about 3200 metres in altitude. Selected sights on the forest trail: Rodalber Felsenwanderweg, Gräfenstein castle ruins, Luitpoldturm, Falkenburgm Dahner Felsenland, Dahner Burgengruppe, Drachenfels castle, Deutsches Weintor. As we started the forest trail following the Palatinate Wine Trail, our route runs in the opposite direction to Kaiserslautern.

Along the way, we pass numerous other ponds (Jagdhausweiher, Rambachweiher) with their crystal-clear water and many fountains and springs (Rambachbrunnen, Hirtenbrunnen, Georgsbrunnen, Pfaffenbrunnen). The Georgsbrunnen fountain fascinates with a large sandstone boulder, which is decorated with a bronze-cast relief of a dragon slayer. The Pfaffenbrunnen natural monument is located on the northern slope of the Letzberg. The little water that emerges from the spring flows over a distance of 120 metres over 57 square red sandstone boulders, which have been carved into a channel and cascaded down into the valley. Very impressive and definitely worth a short detour. Shortly before the end of today's tour, the Humberg tower offered great views of Kaiserslautern.

This is the end of our tour on the Palatinate Forest Trail. It offers a beautiful cross-section of the Palatinate Forest, takes in some of the most beautiful areas, such as the Dahner Felsenland, and invites you to visit beautiful castle ruins. However, you shouldn't be fooled by its name. It may be called a forest trail, but if you are expecting mainly small paths, you are on the wrong track here. A bold, rough estimate would be a proportion of 50% paved forest, woodland and field paths, with the rest being small paths. Nevertheless, a great and recommendable long-distance hiking trail.

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