We drove to Waldenbuch, the town where Ritter Sport, famous for it’s  square (and yummy) chocolate bars, is based, and parked our car next to the city center (there is a little parking area behind the crane on the picture).

We crossed the roundabout and started our hike.  We followed the signs pointing out Seitenbachermühle (Mill Seitenbacher) and had our first “wild”-life encounter:

Cute, hum? We passed the mill, followed the signs with the red dot…

…and turned right at the Schützenhaus (a clubhouse for shooters) – you can see it on the picture, it’s the building with the red roof.

We followed the stream Segelbach through it’s lovely little valley…

…until we reached it’s end and had to cross a street. On the other side we had to follow the sign with the blue dot.

We crossed a little parking area, turned right and entered the forest again.

We left the forest again and arrived at the beautiful valley Aichtal. We turned left and walked towards the mill Obere Rauhmühle.

We passed the mill and arrived at a street. Here we turned left and followed it for a few minutes until we found a little byway on the right. From now on, we had to follow the blue rectangle.

We followed it uphill, turned right into Forststraße, found a hidden lake, actually a water reservoir, on our right.

We walked around the lake and set down on a bench to have picnic.

I love how the leaves are turning yellow and red again. A little bit of Indian Summer in Baden-Württemberg !

We arrived at the street again, crossed it and followed the blue dot through the Aichtal and all the way back to Waldenbuch. On our way, we passed some artwork that belongs to an art trail sponsored by Ritter Sport…

…and some more wildlife – getting ready for winter…

Then, we could see Waldenbuch again and thus our little hike was over.

For those of you who like to treat yourselves with something sweet after a hike: Ritter Sport has a little Café, open for the public. Try the Cappuccino RITTER SPORT with its melted chocolate – hmmmmmmm!

More information about:

Schönbuch (Wikipedia)

Waldenbuch (only in German

Ritter Sport

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It is located between Tübingen in the south and Waldenbuch in the north and between Herrenberg in the west and Neckartenzlingen in the east. From the city center of Stuttgart, you can be there in 30 minutes by car. The Nature Park is a great recreation area for everybody who likes hiking and cycling.

Two week ago, my husband Moritz and I decided to do one of our favourite hikes there. It’s a round trip that begins in Bebenhausen. As usual when hiking in and around Stuttgart, we took one of my fathers guide books  with us. This time, it was “Ausflugsziel Schönbuch” published by Silberburg-Verlag. We parked our car outside of Bebenhausen and passed the village on the south side, following the Goldersbach.

After a while, we arrived at Geschlossener Brunnen where you can find a barbecue area and a playground. Here we turned right until we reached the Tellerbrücke, where we headed left. The trail leads you up a hill and you can see the Goldersbach below you. You are surrounded by lovely old trees and walking these trails sets you back into medieval times. At least, that’s what I always feel when hiking there. 🙂

Before the trail leads you down again, you turn left and take the Jägerweg. We followed this track until we saw the sign pointing out the Königliche Jagdhütte. We followed the sign by turning right again in order to arrive at the old blockhouse.

Crown prince Wilhelm of Württemberg built this cabin in 1888. It’s quite interesting to see this nice cabin and think about how one hundred years ago, a king went hunting in these woods from here. It is also a nice place for a barbecue or a picnic and you have quite a nice view. However, when Moritz and I arrived, all the seats where taken and a lot of children were running around so we decided to head on and look for another place where we could have lunch.

After the Königliche Jagdhütte we turned left and the track led us down again. We passed an old oak tree, the Münsteiche, and made the mistake of turning right instead of walking straight ahead. But that didn’t matter because we reached another old tree, called Kaiserlinde, where we sat down and had a nice little picnic.

A few other hikers and bikers came by and two of them asked us for the way, they got lost as we did. But because my guide book contained a little map, we could help them find the right track again. After lunch we continued walking and came back to the right trail. It leads to the game reserve Saurucken.

Here again you find barbecue places and playgrounds and – as you would expect in a game reserve – deer and wild boar. This is a great place for families with kids. I remember my parents and my grandparents coming here with me very often when I was a child and I always loved it. There’s nothing more interesting than  young boar when you are 7 years old. 🙂

The way back from the Saurucken to Bebenhausen is tarred and very even. It leads you through the Arenbachtal. You pass more old trees which look beautiful in autumn when the leaves turn yellow and red.

Back in Bebenhausen, I recommand having a look at the old abbey. It was founded around 1183/84 and served several purposes since: It used to be one of the wealthiest monasteries in Württemberg, then served as a protestant monastery school and as a hunting palace and it became the state parliament of Württemberg-Hohenzollern later.

This hike is 13 kilometers long and takes about 3 hours to complete. It is one of my favourite hikes in the area because you pass so many different attractions and the nature is so extremely beautiful out here. When you go there, tell me if you like it as well.

More information about the Schönbuch Nature Park:

Wikipedia article

Abbey Bebenhausen

Guide Book “Ausflugsziel Schönbuch” from Dieter Buck

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