Extratour "Vorderrhönweg": Wasungen – Rhön

Starting point: Hümpfershausen car park. From Hümpfershausen we hike over the Gotteskopf to the Hümpfershäuser Hütte. On the horizon, ancient, impressive mountain beeches frame the expansive panorama of the Thuringian Forest. We walk over the Hahnberg through natural deciduous forests and wide meadows to the Amönenhof. Let's take a little time for a little detour to the tower clock hermitage! Time was not invented here, but measured with tower clocks that are up to 200 years old. Then we come to the village of Oepfershausen, where an art station combines creativity and nature. An extensive creative program is offered here in spacious workshops. In addition, the so-called "Black Castle" from the 18th century, formerly part of the Auerochs Castle, has been extensively restored and reconstructed. We continue through the idyllic village of Friedelshausen with its old lime tree. Via Glasberg we hike through a picture book landscape with impressive calcareous grassland. The latter is the result of centuries of grazing with sheep and goats and offers a home to the silver thistles. These habitats are important throughout Europe and can only be preserved with great effort. On narrow paths we get back to the starting point in Hümpfershausen.

Morning put to good use! Started an interesting tour at Hümpfershausen 🤭 A bad choice only in thawing weather... dry from above and wet from below! Walked the route in the opposite direction to the one given (luckily it was the right decision), but zigzagged up the hill... path max. a foot wide on a meadow with snow... if I had had that at the end!? I would probably have slipped off without strength... 😄 Otherwise a nice tour with a lot of foresight! Have to do it again in spring or summer. At the top the water/snow ran together in streams... had to go through... You can stamp at the hut... not really my thing 🤷

The Touringen stamp booklet takes me to places I've never been before. The Thuringian Vorderrhön is the kind of area where foxes and hares say "good night". As we approached, a fox was sitting on the side of the road and didn't mind at all. Despite Pentecost and the perfect hiking weather, there were very few people out and about today. The premium hiking trail has few hiking highlights to offer. The absolute highlight, however, is the beautiful nature and the wide view into the open distance. Nature is simply beautiful at this time of year. Meadows in bloom, warbling larks and absolute peace. Unfortunately, the Hümfershäuser Hütte is no longer open to the public.

For Ascension Day we went on hiking boots through the Vorderröhn today. Start of the round "Vorderrhönweg", an extra tour in connection with the premium hiking trail "Hochrhöner" was a hiking car park near Hümpfershausen. From here our round started over huge flower and blooming meadows, along the forest to Oepfershausen. Now we continued in the direction of Friedelshausen and up to the Clasberg ... a good starting and landing point for paragliders. From a distance we saw a large number of planes in the sky and when we arrived at the top, around 15 pilots were preparing for their flights. After a short chat with an older pilot, we hiked on to the Hümpfershäuser Hütte. Once up here, we strengthened ourselves with coffee, cake and grilled food ... after all, it's Ascension Day and then the last stage through the beech forests awaited us. After about 14 km we were back at the car.

START in Hümpfertshausen, the parking lot is at the sports field. From there it is best to go clockwise, as you first hike through open terrain. In Oepfertshausen you can definitely lose your way again. Overall, a very nice round with great views.

Many small rest areas with distant views of the Thuringian Forest.

The tour has many beautiful corners... but... obviously there are two of them, with 13.6 and 17 kilometers. Then there is old marking and lots of missing signs. It's really a shame, because it's often difficult to find the way. The sections in the forest are particularly beautiful and of course the distant views that are typical of the Rhön.

After the morning walk with Buddy, @Nicol Weber and I went to the Vorderrhön for the "Extratour Vorderrhönweg". The tour can best be summed up as follows: "The character of this tour, which leads through a charming landscape, is characterized by picturesque views." (Source: wanderinstitut.de). I can fully agree with that 👌 Thank you Nicol for this beautiful tour 😇🤗 Tomorrow morning we'll go for another walk before we head back to the also very beautiful Saxony region 🫡