Rench Valley Trail

The Rench Valley Trail (German: Renchtalsteig) is a 98-kilometre-long 'prestige hiking trail (Prädikatswanderweg) in the Central/North Black Forest Nature Park in Germany. It runs in five stages around the Rench valley with its start and finish near Oberkirch.

Rench Valley Trail
View of the Rench valley from the Bauernkopf
Length	98 km
Location	Germany, Baden-Württemberg, Black Forest
Trailheads	Bottenau; Ruins of Schauenburg
Use	hiking trail
Elevation change	863 m
Highest point	Schliffkopf (1,055 m)
Lowest point	Bottenau (192 m)
Difficulty	medium
Season	spring to autumn
Waymark	blue and green diamond with a stylised "rs" on a white background
Maintained by	Black Forest Club

History

The Rench Valley Trail was first certified on 15 January 2011 by the German Rambling Association as a high quality German trail (Qualitätsweg Wanderbares Deutschland)^[1] and opened on 22 May 2011.

Short description

From its starting point in Bottenau the Rench Valley Trail runs through vineyards to Schloss Staufenberg and continues to the Mooskopf with its Moos Tower. With steep ascents and descents in places, the route runs along the southern side of the Rench valley past Oppenau and Bad Peterstal to the Alexanderschanze. After passing the source of the Rench, the highest point on the route is reached: the Schliffkopf. The path now runs downhill to the ruins of All Saints' Abbey and the All Saints Waterfalls. Returning to the Rench valley, the route reaches its finishing point at the ruins of the Schauenburg.