During the rainy Easter holidays we took our third trip to the Hunsrück region to finish this magnificent Premium Hike. We completed the over 400km trail from the Mosel to the Saar to the Rhine with nearly 11000m of altitude. Here you can read the diary of a tired hiker on our third week of the SHS to Boppard 😉 To read the first chapter, check out our first week on the Saar-Hunsrück-Steig.
Table of Contents
Day 15: Sohren to Altlay – 12.3km
We woke up at 4am for the long journey to Sohren, arriving extra early to make sure we wouldn’t miss the train. Which was, of course, delayed. Despite the late train, we only missed one connection. Though, traffic on the autobahn nearly made our first of two busses late. Luckily we had 2 minutes to spare before our connecting bus took off from Simmern. Shortly after 2pm we arrived in Sohren where we last left the Saar-Hunsrück-Steig. It seems like half the adventure is just getting there. Oh, and it was pouring rain the whole day. Already in Simmern I put on my rain pants in the brief minutes between busses.
A rainy start
When we got out in Sohren, the sky lightened a bit and the rain stopped. But we weren’t in the clear yet. It would rain on and off throughout the afternoon. We hiked up and out of Sohren, back onto the trail (note: there’s a Ferienwohnung very close to the trail at the edge of Sohren, maybe worth finding of you’re staying on the trail from here). A couple of women ahead of us were walking a dog, kind of like a border collie, that kept turning to look at us. He was getting more dragged than walked because he was so curious about us. We turned to go over the highway and shortly thereafter passed an old Jewish cemetery. It has 49 gravestones with the oldest dating back to 1864. Not long after that, we made it to the geographical middle of Rheinland Pfalz.
Due to the rain, the trail was really muddy. Even in places that looked grassy were still saturated with water and mud. We were happy to have rain pants on because they were covered in mud from the knees down. For once I even appreciated when we were on wide, hard-packed forestry roads because they were solid!
Dangers of Hiking in Germany: Animals
After we passed the Frankfurt Hahn airport and the village of its namesake, we entered a gorge which had a lot of slate mining history. There were some slate plaques to tell us about different locations along the way but after the first two, they were missing from their signposts. We could see some mine shafts and slate rock formations along the trail with a creek running below us. After the short hike we reached Altlay. We stayed at Zur Morschbach, which is a much fancier little hotel than we expected. It’s in the third generation of the family. C had gnocchi and I had baked feta for dinner. We washed our rain pants in the shower.
Day 16: Altlay to Blankenrath – 18km
Zur Morschbach was lovely and the owner was so friendly. The house was much more modern than we expected and very clean. The food was also really good. We paid €95 for the room, €24 for breakfast and about €50 for dinner. Throughout the week, this would be the average: about €100 for a place to sleep and breakfast and about €50 for dinner for the two of us. This felt like a big increase from our first week on the trail when everything would cost around €100 total for the night.
Today’s hike started in the Altlayer Schweiz on the premium Traumschleife of the same name. I would definitely do this trail if we came back! The hike started out with a lot of steep downhill. We first had a great look out point and then hiked into the Hitzelbach creek. It was absolutely beautiful. After 5 km we had another view of Altlay, not very far away as we had made a giant loop around the town, giving me vibes of our first zig-zaggy week on the trail.
Signs to know when hiking in Germany
Along the trail today were more indicators of mining. We passed the Schiesskeller which was an unfinished bunker turned explosives storage room. There were some information signs. One we found interesting shared how a miner’s paycheck was calculated and taxed. There were many places where you could see entrances into the rock. Some were blocked with fences and others were open.
We followed the Altlayer Bach, went a bit uphill through the forest and then through some fields. With Altlay still in view we passed a chapel in the forest. It was really beautiful! We saw a group of 4 brown cows in a pasture with another three and two babies in the pasture above them. When we got close to the fence, they came over to check us out. We stared at one another for a minute. When C and I headed off, they mooed very annoyed for several minutes. We sat on a bench not far away where they continued to stare at us. Here we saw our first person of the day- a woman with a beagle who surprised me so much that I gasped.
After our rest, we continued mostly downhill to the Peterswaldbach. The trail was saturated but nowhere near as muddy as it was in any of the agricultural fields. We got to the stream and saw that the stepping stones had a huge gap in the middle where the water was rushing past. C looked around to find something else to put in the middle but nearly fell in on the slippery rocks. In the end we decided to take off our socks and boots to wade across. The water felt great at first, but then was painfully icy!
What is a Premium Hike?
We hiked gently uphill until we got to Schauren where it was pretty exposed and windy. We hiked through some fields, past a lot of windmills, and then through a small wooded area until we reached Blankenrath.
Most of the day we were on moss or grass-covered trails (ie they were not often tread on). During our time near Altlay, the blue kilometer markers disappeared, but not the SHS sign. We stopped at 274 and reappeared at 282. The trail was always impeccably marked – I kept the guide book packed away the whole day. We saw a lot of giant snails and one very tiny one. The whole day, we only saw two people walking their dogs and another couple who were digging for Bergkristall.
We stayed at Gasthaus Gräff-Oster. We tried to visit the town church as suggested in the book, but it was closed. They have a cool local bakery. We got cake at Edeka.
At dinner, we sat at the bar because the restaurant was so full! C had a big Greek salad and fries and I had Käsespätzle. We learned that the Gasthof has space for 400 person events! When they began 40 years ago, there were 4 restaurants in Blankenrath and now they’re the only one. We paid €140 for dinner, the room, and breakfast.
Day 17: Blankenrath to Mörsdorf – 19km
Easter Surprises
In the morning we had little chocolate bunnies on our plates because it was Easter Sunday. When we left the Gasthaus we were quickly back on the trail and were in for another Easter surprise. There was a brief section through town before the SHS headed into a beautiful beech forest.
A local kita (pre-school) had decorated an Easter trail which was several hundred meters long. The children had colored lots of Easter pictures which were laminated and hung along the way. There was a QR code hunt for children. If they followed the directions closely, they would find the next code and collect letters for a mystery word at the end. Along the way there were many games: tic tac toe, bean bag toss, ring toss on wooden carrots, and throwing pinecones through hoops shaped like bunnies. We loved it! And it fit so perfectly that we were here on Easter Sunday.
Bildbach Creek
We spent a while in the forest and came out by the Hanosius Mill which looked like an absolutely lovely place to stay, but it’s actually a rehab center for addiction. There was a short burst through some fields, and we came out on a part of an old Roman road. There were some examples of grave gardens to see there. Then the Saar-Hunsrück-Steig met with a Traumschleife and took us through the Bildbach creek. Here we began to see some day hikers. This valley was so awesome! We hiked along the creek in a very steep and narrow valley. Towards the end, we left the creekside and hiked above it, still following it’s course, towards Mörsdorf.
Geierlay Bridge
Getting closer to the Geierlay bridge we saw more and more people. There was an SHS detour which would be important for us the next day. But today we wanted to cross the bridge going towards Mörsdorf as that was where we were staying for the night. We did expect a lot of people to be there since it was a holiday with amazing weather, so we weren’t surprised at the mass of people, though we didn’t love it. The bridge is 360m long and 100m above the valley. We crossed and took in the view.
On the other side, we hiked another kilometer and a half to Mörsdorf, did a small loop of the town and then headed back out to get to the Petryhof. The horse farm was just outside of town. We hiked back into Mörsdorf for dinner at a pizza place – pizza and gnocchi gorgonzola!
Day 18: Mörsdorf to Kastellaun – 18km
It rained on and off throughout the night and would continue to do so all day. When we left it was raining hardest and continued for about the first 45 minutes of our hike before it lightened up. When we approached the Geierslay bridge again, two guys were leaving. Then we had the bridge all to ourselves. Not another person in sight. This was definitely a different experience than yesterday. Now we also had to be careful not to slip on the wooden boards as we crossed. We already saw yesterday that due to seasonal weather conditions, we should take a detour. From the bridge we could see the flooded trail below. As much as I love a creek tour, I didn’t mind skipping this part, considering how muddy the last days had been.
Creeks, creeks, creeks!
We hiked the detour above the creek for a short distance and then joined back with the SHS. This section of trail made it my favorite so far on our third week of the SHS. It was so fun. Where our trail met a Traumschleife and the Sosberger and Mörsdorfer creeks was the Herzenauer Hannes rest stop with a big long table and picnic benches. We hiked really close to the Mörsdorfer Bach from that point. There were tree trunk slices as stepping stones to help us get through the muddy parts. Because of all the rain, the creeks we followed were roaring all day long and sometimes covered the trail.
Leaving the creek, heading uphill we came to a Roman well near the Burgberg, which was used by the Celts. The castle that was here isn’t visible any longer. There was a covered rest spot here, but we kept going. The rain had lightened significantly but would be on and off all day. C took off his rainpants here but I left mine on as I was never convinced that they wouldn’t be needed again.
Balduinseck ruin
We hiked back into the valley along the Mörsdorfer creek, crossing a couple of times. We got to a spot that was closed due to falling trees, which we could see covering the trail ahead. The detour was short, about 200m and met back with the SHS at the Balduinseck castle ruin. It was really cool! The stone castle from 1325 is free to visit and always open.
From the castle we followed the Mastershausen creek where there were many waterfalls and cool bridges. We also passed a few half-timbered mills and old stone mill ruins.
Via Ferrata
We had been wanting to rest for a while, but all the benches were in the open and it was still raining. Finally, we found a bench at a moment when the rain had mostly stopped. This was right before the Diellaysteig. This section of trail can be avoided if you don’t want to do it. It is a bit like a via ferrata. No special equipment is required, but it has lots of steel cable ropes to help pull yourself up and some metal rod steps just like a real Klettersteig. And at the top is a covered rest spot. About 250 m from where we just took a break on a kinda rainy bench!! Anyways, despite not being in the mood to strain myself, I had fun doing this mini via ferrata and suggest you try it out too if you’re on the trail.
Shortly after, we hiked through a field to get to Bell, an adorable town with lots of cute half-timbered and shale-shingled homes. Then we hiked trough a nice forest around some barracks until we got to a view point overlooking Kastellaun. There was a great relax bench and the sun nearly came out! We stopped and rested for a bit there after so much trudging through the rain and mud. Our destination was just below!
Kastellaun
It didn’t take long to get into Kastellaun. It wasn’t very impressive. I was beginning to wonder if the Altes Stadttor would look also like some of the 70s inspired accommodations we had already been in. I couldn’t have been farther from the truth. The hotel Altes Stadttor is in a beautifully restored portion of the castle wall with lots of half-timber. We were greeted very formally despite being soaking wet, muddy dogs. After reading the menu, I was immediately disappointed that I hadn’t done more research beforehand nor had I reserved a table for dinner with our room reservation as suggested.
The food is prepared with regional products and there were a number of actually delicious-sounding vegan and vegetarian dishes, even some traditional ones. Sadly, we couldn’t get a table for dinner, but did manage to get one for afternoon cake before the seniors arrived for their 5pm dinners (lol!).
Instead we took a walk around Kastellaun, the small town is growing a lot around the edges despite the very quiet center. Then we stopped in a döner shop, which was actually very good. An old couple next to us were definitely in a döner Laden for the first time ever, so this was fun to observe.
Day 19: Kastellaun to Schmausemühle – 18km
We slept so well and had a nice breakfast. The owners were so nice! We could see the sun was shining outside. It was very windy, but at least there was sun between the clouds. We walked the short distance to the castle which was built in 1225. There we saw 2 people with backpacks looking at the castle. They were also SHS hikers, starting today having worked through the trail at various times over the last 7 years. They didn’t come up to the castle but we leapfrogged with them and another older man with them, for the whole day.
Kastellaun and Castle
The castle was pretty cool, mostly in ruins, free to look at. There is a museum and restaurant inside and they have some “knights training” events on the weekend. The guide book promised us an uninteresting 12 km before the final amazing 4km through the Baybachtal at the end which I thought was an unfair portrayal of this section. We still had nice trail along the way, though it was mostly open and made us easy targets for the wind. At least any time it drizzled, it was quickly blown over.
We walked through a picturesque part of Kastellaun, past a nice pond with some ducks and then on towards Uhler. At the top of a hill we interrupted two collies playing catch. Uhler was small and we didn’t see much other than horses. Then we walked through a brief forest downhill to the Junkersmühle. It isn’t open in the middle of the week, but otherwise you can eat there. As we left, our trail joined with the Liepperts trail, which had a funny mustached figure as its trail marker. Mr. Lieppert was a traveling salesman, who was quite a character and ultimately got his usual route named after himself.
Sehenswürdigkeiten
Before joining the Hunsrückhöhenweg, our trail stopped by an Erlebnishof, or experience garden. There were lots of fun things to play on and with to encourage you to focus on each of the senses. Before this we had followed an “energy path” with lots of info points about agriculture and energy.
In Mannebach, we passed the Hexenhaus which according to the guidebook is more like eating in grandmas kitchen, but it didn’t appear to be open, though there were lots of signs around town about various places to park for it. Leaving Mannebach we passed the Zwillingsbäume, or twin trees. Two trees which look very similar to one another and were part of a scene in a regionally acclaimed film called “Heimat” or home.
Then there was a long stretch through a field of windmills which were erected by a citizens initiative group. Nearing Heyweiler we took a break on a bench out of the wind before joining up with the Traumschleife Baybachklamm which has a whopping 95 points!
The infamous Baybachklamm
At the start, we walked high up along the ridge, getting to two cool viewpoints over the valley. We neared Heyweiler again through a field and then descended in the forest down to the Baybach creek. It was muddy and magical again. The guidebook says it is the most famous and wildest creek of the Hunsrück. I kept wanting to slow down through this part because once we reached the mill, the hike would be over. At one point there was a bench across the water. We stopped so I could sit on it and let my feet dangle in the icy cold water. I could only handle a few seconds at a time. Behind me was a 2m tall waterfall and we watched a wren peeping as loud as it could.
There were some parts of the Baybach trail which were secured with a steel cable, but though this is our first “black” hike of the week we didn’t find it more challenging than the other slippery, muddy sections.
In the end we did arrive at the Schmausemühle. Today is their Ruhetag (rest day) so dinner is for house guests only. Theres no wifi and no cell service here. A wonderful place to really escape!
Day 20: Schmausemühle to Mühle Vogelsang – 18km
The Schmausemühle was a full house for the evening. Our hiker friends from Kastellaun were there and 3 other parties – two couples and a family of five. For dinner C had Maultaschen and I had Kloße (dumplings) filled with cheese and leek. And we got warm chocolate cake with mango ice cream for dessert.
Breakfast was nice. They make their own bread and jams!
Baybachklamm
We continued in the Baybachklamm and followed the Traumschleife with the same name for a while. Perhaps it was because I was getting tired as it is the 6th hiking day in a row, but this felt like the hardest section of trail this week. Regardless, the Baybachklamm was splendid. The trail was narrow with steep sides. Many trees have fallen over in the valley, and several have taken large chunks of the trail with them, making the going even tougher. I didn’t take many if any pictures because I had to concentrate the whole time about where I was walking. The trail was sometimes close to the water and sometimes a bit higher up. The creek also sometimes overtook the path and we had to carefully wade through. The higher parts were less muddy but still slick. There were many places with steel cables to help pull yourself along.
the disappointing Burg Waldeck
I had read about the Burg Waldeck in the book and was curious to see it. At one point a path headed up the ravine from ours and we wondered if this was it. Checking the map, we were sure, but found it confusing why there wasn’t a detour sign for the castle. After a steep hike up we were at the ruins. They were kind of interesting, but there wasn’t any information or signs about the place. Then we took a much longer way up and around to try and see the castle itself because it wasn’t accessible from the ruins, but it was fenced off. Totally not worth the detour. Now we knew why there was no sign. Just keep hiking!!
Our hiking friends surpassed us on our detour and took the better rest spot again. I began agonizing over when a bench might appear again, and before I could finish my thought there was one! When I sat down the bench nearly toppled over because it was on uneven ground. I was ready to pull out my seat cushion and sit directly on the trail when C found 2 rocks to put under the bench legs to stabilize it. Mood saved.
Morshausen’s Donkey
Shortly after this we left the Baybach and headed towards Morshausen (yes, another village with “mor” in the name!!). We had a view of the Morscher Eselsche, a giant rock that was shaped like a donkey until teenagers decided to test some explosives shortly after the Second World War. So the rock now looks nothing like a donkey, but it continues to very clearly be the town’s mascot. We hiked up and up out of the valley onto the donkey’s back and had a view of the Baybach valley. The more we hiked, the more of a view we had. We never went into Morshausen, but we saw some more donkeys on signs and then a big steel one with a view of the Eifel. It was a big change from spending two half days in the valley to come out and have expansive views.
The morning had been dry but cloudy and warm. Leaving the valley it began to drizzle on and off for the rest of the afternoon though the visibility remained quite clear despite the rain.
SHS’s only questionable section of trail
Leaving Morshausen, the trail was difficult to follow. First, we went through a section of woods which had no visible trail. Hence, we entered a field which also had no visible trail, but we couldn’t orient ourselves with the trail markers. This made walking really tough through the grass, but did get my boots squeaky clean. On our way we had a view of the Ehrenburg castle across the next valley which looked very impressive. Then heading downhill towards a tiny village, the trail was so covered in mud that it was impossible to avoid slipping. We saw lots of horse tracks and wondered how the giant quadrupeds made it down without sliding. So much for my clean boots!
Mühle Vogelsang
In the village we saw signs for Brodenbach and left the trail for a few hundred meters to get to the Mühle Vogelsang. Our room is really nice. We arrived on another rest day, so there’s no dinner here. After showering we headed to Brodenbach, where only one restaurant was open. But it was gooodd and Greek-inspired. We shared a giant salad with roasted veggies, a starter of tzatziki, and a side of fries. We were stuffed!! The sun was shining the whole time, and it was fantastic to see the Mosel River, which was running very high.
On the walk back it began to rain. Annoying! Tomorrow is a rest day. Our friends will hike on, but come back to Brodenbach for the night as they also could only find a place for a minimum of 2 nights. We planned a rest day in Brodenbach because all places had a minimum of a 2 night stay.
Rest Day
Because of the rain, we waited until about 11 to go out. Then we hiked a 10km loop (yes, on a rest day) to Alken, the next village, and up to Burg Thurant. The real reason for this hike was to go to the supermarket. But once i saw the castle, I also wanted to go up. Since I needed the toilet when we were at the castle, we had cake there – apple cake and cheesecake. Delicious! The town was cute with some old half-timbered homes and the former town gate.
Being on the Mosel where the climate is slightly warmer than in the mountains, everything is greener! The last few days of our trip have begun to get warm and the trees are starting to blossom.
Day 21: Mühle Vogelsang to Hieren Mühle
Today we left the mill and hiked about 700m back to the trail. Then it was a steep uphill to get to Burg Ehrenburg. I had tried to make a reservation there, but it never worked out. We arrived 30 minutes before they opened to visitors at 11, so we checked out the website while waiting. It is possible to book for one night, though this is not recommended by our guide book as it makes the final day to boppard over 30km. We spent 4€ each to visit the castle. The view drom the top of the tower was great. We could see the mill we had stayed at, but even from up here the Mosel River wasn’t visible over the mountains.
From the Burg, it was steep downhill back to the Ehrenbach creek. It also had some amazing sections next to the water. This part of the trail had more waterfalls than anywhere along the whole SHS. There were lots of fun bridges and cable-secured sections to climb through.
The Malerweg – one of Germany’s best Fernwanderwege
We passed several mills along the creek (you can eat at the Eck Mühle and Daubisberger Mühle). Eventually we had a steep incline to get to the Schloss Schöneck viewpoint. Though hiking by the palace is actually on this leg of the hike as suggested by our guide book, we will see it tomorrow as our accommodation is earlier. From the viewpoint, we went back down again to the creek and followed it all the way to the Hieren Mühle, ignoring a left turn for the SHS.
The owner told us that the stove is unfortunately not working but that he can make us frozen pizza for dinner. He didn’t flinch when we said we were vegetarians, as he has been so for 23 years! I wonder how that works with this also being the owner of a Forellenhof! (trout hatchery)
Since our hike was just 10 km and it was early, we left our packs in the room and headed out again. We continued along the Ehrenbach which was also the Hunsrückhöhenweg, for another 1.5km to a hut. Along the way we saw a Wasseramsel! It was exciting as they are pretty rare to see. We have only seen one other in Mittenwald near the Alps.
Day 22: Hieren Mühle to Boppard – 25km
This morning we had breakfast, sharing the dining room with a family we had seen on the trail the day before.
We were in for a long but beautiful day. The sun shone brilliantly and it was warm. We began with a huge incline up to Schloss Schöneck, which you can’t see so much of as it is privately owned. We saw some Scottish-like hairy cows with big long horns. Then we passed an “apple museum” in an old barn.
Udenhäusener Schweiz
From here we went through the Udenhäusener Schweiz, which was a wild forest and lots of zigzagging and up and down. We were again next to a nice creek and then headed up a large, steep, and long incline to the Buchhöller Kopf which had a nice view. We could see a family of hikers across the way and waved to one another. Then we walked along the outskirts of Udenhausen and eventually crossed the highway to the Horstkopf, which would be really nice, but the highway is still in earshot.
Hexentanzplatz
That was the highest point of our trail today so it was all downhill to the Hexentanzplatz, a very nice lake where we took another long break and opened up the gummibears. Then, a brief uphill section to reach the Hedwigseiche and Engelseiche, named after Engelbert Humperdinck and his wife, famous for writing the songs to Hansel and Gretl.
Vier-Seen-Blick
Now it was one last long downhill to reach Boppard. We first passed the Vier Seen Blick, which you can only see from the terrace of the restaurant with the same name, if you are a guest. The name literally means “four lakes view” because the bend in the Rhine River is blocked by some of the landscape and makes it look like four lakes instead of one bendy river. Shortly after there is a viewpoint where you can see the Rhine, but without the “4 lakes” effect. Shortly after there is a second restaurant with an even better and public view of the Rhine. The bend here is just as impressive as the Saarschleife.
The last kilometer was steep, steep, steep! It would not be good in the rain. The guidebook suggests taking the chairlift down, as one deserves it after the long journey. We walked next to the chair lift and were almost as quick. At the bottom, I was a bit disappointed that there is no portal or official sign saying start/end of the SHS though there was one final kilometer sign – 379!!
I kept Komoot on as we walked through Boppard along the Rhine to an ice cream place. What would the end of a long day with a big accomplishment be without it?
If you’d like to hike the Saar-Hunsrück-Steig in Saarland or Rheinland Pfalz, I definitely suggest the Rother Wanderführer for planning and guiding your journey. The official website of the Saar-Hunsrück-Steig can also inform you about the trail itself as well as the many Traumschleifen in the area. Here is the website for the National Park Hunsrück Hochwald. On this page you can find any current detours or closures (in German) on the trail. You can find all sections of trail on my Komoot profile.