Hiking and Cycling in the Black Forest

Stage 2 Lotharpfad is closed when winter conditions make it unsafe to walk it (snow and ice)

Stage 3 Just after Schliffkopf, at Hübscher Platz, Seensteig normally wanders off down the hill to Melkenhütte and on to Ruhestein. This section is seasonally closed, as is the section between Darmstädterhütte and Seibelseckle. For the first section follow Westweg signs 8red marker) for the second section, an alternative route is posted at Darmstädterhütte.

Stage 4 The section across Hornisgrinde is open as a snowshoe trail, but between Dreifürstenstein and Hinterer Brand is closed from 15 November to 15 May. An alternative route is posted.

Stage 5 I did not cover this stage in my book, but for anyone who wants to just continue walking the complete round, this section is closed until 15 March

Some trails in the Black Forest National Park (northern Black Forest) are seasonally closed to protect the wildlife during mating season. The trails that are affected are all closed from 15 November and, depending on location and habitat, reopen on 15 March, 15 May or even as late as 15 June.

The National Park Service provides further information, for both short-term temporary closure www.nationalpark-schwarzwald.de/de/erleben/unterwegs-im-park/wegesperrungen

and for seasonal closures: www.nationalpark-schwarzwald.de/fileadmin/Mediendatenbank_Nationalpark/06_Karten_und_Broschueren/Karten/NLP_Starterkarte_Winter-Edition.jpg

Some trails in the Black Forest National Park (northern Black Forest) are seasonally closed to protect the wildlife during mating season. The trails that are affected are all closed from 15 November and, depending on location and habitat, reopen on 15 March, 15 May or even as late as 15 June.

The National Park Service provides further information, for both short-term temporary closure www.nationalpark-schwarzwald.de/de/erleben/unterwegs-im-park/wegesperrungen

and for seasonal closures: www.nationalpark-schwarzwald.de/fileadmin/Mediendatenbank_Nationalpark/06_Karten_und_Broschueren/Karten/NLP_Starterkarte_Winter-Edition.jpg

A major infrastructure project is disrupting train services on the Rheintalbahn.

The Deutsche Bahn is currently in the midst of a massive construction project on the Rheintalbahn, which serves towns and cites along the Rhein such as Karlsruhe, Raststatt, Offenburg, Freiburg, Basel and all point between. The major north/south-bound traffic artery across Europe is being enlarged to accommodate more freight trains and relieving congestion on the motorways.

The construction phase will take until 2041 to complete and will involve tearing down and rebuilding not just tracks and tunnels, but also platforms, bridges, slip roads and station buildings, all along the railway line. This means that regular train services on this route are occasionally disrupted.

To minimise the impact on commuters, the most disruptive works are often scheduled on weekends, during holiday periods or at night. Normally, affected services are covered by a replacement bus service, but during Covid, this was not always reliable due to staff shortages.