DonauWelle: Kraftstein-Runde – Auf der Albhochfläche

Before the heat became unbearable today from midday onwards, we set off early for the big Heuberg. We started from the hiking 🅿 Mittlerer Platz near Risiberg. Today we walked on the Donauwelle "Kraftstein". The first 250 m at the hiking car park could be saved. From kilometer 0.7 - 1.2 I would use the parallel path (split) at the moment. This section runs through an unmown area (knee-high grass 🙈🕷). This was followed by various paths (meadows, forest paths, gravel paths). Due to yesterday's storm, some sections were not in very good condition. The descent and ascent are quite a challenge. Part of the path runs on the castle path. The ruins of "Altrietheim, Wallenburg and Bräunisberg" are only marked and described on information boards. At the "Kraftstein" ruins there is still a wall and a small model. A very beautiful section is this one over the juniper heath🤩. We recommend the Landgasthof Waldeck https://www.waldeck-risiberg.de Nice staff, 😋food. There is a shop opposite, next door a playground and several enclosures with goats, rabbits and hens. Our summary of this tour: few highlights, for a premium trail some passages are not particularly well maintained, the signage was 🔝. There are numerous entry points for this tour.

Since the weather has already practiced for April today, we started practically right outside the front door. I still missed the Kraftstein round from the "Donauwellen" in my hikes. All in all, a pleasant tour with nice, narrow paths, some great vantage points and some places to take a break. Another highlight is added to the March cup blossom.

Once again on a DonauWelle 🌊 on the road, on the Kraftstein Runde. The description for the circular hike says: "Moderate DonauWellen tour with the lowest calorie consumption on our DonauWellen" The round runs very flat on the whole, with two crisp descents and ascents. The round is very interesting, you pass several former castle sites, juniper heaths and one or the other vantage point. There are two possibilities to stop off, in the Waldeck country inn in Risiberg on the tour or in the Rose inn in Rußberg, about 1/2 km detour. All in all, a nice circular hike without a lot of calorie consumption 😜.

Donauwellen Tour 2 of 6 "Kraftsteinrunde" Start: Risiberg hiking car park 🔺Ruin, Burg-Altriedheim. 🔺View of Ursental. 🔺Ruin, Burg-Wallenburg. 🔺Ruin, Bräunisburg. 🔺Juniper heath Kraftstein. 🔺Ruin, Kraftstein. 🔺Risiberg.

At the start of our spontaneous 4-day Alb trip, we went to Dürbheim to take on the premium hiking trail "Donauwelle Kraftsteinrunde". The Kraftsteinrunde shines above all with its natural beauty, especially in the Kraftstein nature reserve (which gives this tour its name). Unfortunately, the sun stayed pretty low until shortly before the end of the hike, so that the aesthetics of the juniper heath were not really visible. What a pity. 😞🤷‍♂️ With the four ruins that we passed, sometimes it takes a bit of imagination to be reminded of a castle. The remaining ruins have now become too dilapidated. The first steep descent into the Ursental (km 4.7) should not be underestimated. It is quite steep and covered with small sandy limestone stones, there is a considerable risk of slipping. A real ordeal for us "disabled" people! With a bit of luck, you will be rewarded with the very rare sight of an Apollo butterfly in the valley, for which a forest clearing was specially cut into the slope. 🦋 A beautiful, steep serpentine path led us up to the "Kraftstein" nature reserve. The charm of the juniper heath never ceases to impress us. 👌 After the second, less strenuous "up and down" we reached the Risiberg, with its idyllic country inn, large playground and meadow landscape. The sun 🌞🌞 liked it so much that it didn't want to hide anymore. 😊 A beautiful plateau, which we were able to admire again two days later - very close by.... Description of the tour: https://www.wanderinstitut.de/premiumwege/baden-wuerttemberg/kraftstein-runde/ or: https://www.donaubergland.de/wandertouren-details/#/article/b4a507e5-61f1-4a2a-b63a-150130c29ba6 Coordinates of the hiking car park: 🅿: 48.046727, 8.804438

This Danube wave is an insider tip. It leads through a wonderful heath and meadow landscape. On the way you will find some historic castle complexes, some of which are only the remains of the castle ruins. We hike quite steeply down into the Ursental. The climb back up is just as steep 😅 The view of the romantic side valley of the Danube is worth the effort. What follows is one of the most beautiful passages along the Kraftstein nature reserve on the Alb plateau. The Landgasthaus Waldeck is currently closed due to vacation. This premium route is highly recommended, even now in winter ❄️

We treated ourselves to a "Donauwelle" today 😌 Almost untouched natural landscape on the plateau above a side valley of the Danube, in the mountains high above the Upper Danube. From Dürbheimer Berg-Rußberg-castle ruins Wallenburg-formerly. Bräunisburg-Ursental-castle ruins of Kraftstein-Risiberg-Dürbheimer... Unfortunately, the sun god was not kind to us and the temperatures dropped to around 850 mtr. did not correspond to what we imagine a mid-May day to be. But nature made us feel forgiving and more hikes in the Danube mountains are planned.

So, since I didn't know exactly whether my old bones would take part in a big tour, I had a simple but good idea: I chose two smaller premium hiking trails that were spatially together. The first tour started at 7 a.m. on a hiking car park between Dürbheim and Russberg. The sun was shining through the last foggy fields, it was wonderful! But unfortunately only for a short time, because from about km 2, below Risiberg, the paths became narrow, were almost overgrown and it was very slippery. It was a mistake to start after a rainy night! Then came the Kraftstein ruins, which were very nicely laid out, with a small model of the castle. In the further course of the way there were more "castle ruins", those were places in the forest where a castle should / could have stood. On steep paths it went into Ursental and on the other side steeply up again, the altitude difference was ok, but it was just not nice to walk. Past Russberg it went back to the parking lot. Sorry, not my way, so I cannot recommend it.