The Menzenschwand Geißenpfad is a circular walk of around 10.8 kilometres in the High Black Forest. Allow about four hours for the tour. The path leads through the Menzenschwand Valley and directly past the Menzenschwand Waterfalls – especially appealing in autumn, when the woods around the valley change colour.

From Hotel Auerhahn in Schluchsee-Aha it is about 15 road kilometres to Menzenschwand, around 20 minutes by car. Start and finish are not the lake, but the Mösle car park in Menzenschwand-Hinterdorf.

10.8 km | approx. 4 h | 313 hm | moderate

The published loop from Hochschwarzwald Tourismus measures exactly 10.79 kilometres. Ascent and descent are 313 metres of elevation each, the highest point at 1,054 metres, the lowest at 879. The grade is moderate. The surface is about 70 percent fine gravel, 20 percent natural path and 10 percent asphalt. Sturdy footwear is the right equipment. The path is not suitable for pushchairs. On the pastures, dogs belong on a lead.

The full route is published by Hochschwarzwald Tourismus.

The loop begins and ends at the Mösle car park in Hinterdorf. It leads over the Schwarzberg, past Flößer’s Rast and across a wooden footbridge on the Menzenschwander Alb. Down the valley comes the rest area at the Menzenschwand Waterfalls. A stop at the Albhof by the waterfall is possible there too. The return follows the Menzo-Weg, the Weidberg and the Ellerwegle back to the car park.

The falls are a stop on this route, not a separate short path beside the loop. Anyone looking only for the falls will meet them on the described way. The whole circuit is the Geißenpfad.

From May to October the falls are lit on Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday evenings. The time changes with the season and is currently listed on the tour page. On the premium trails there is also a stamp point in the form of a cuckoo clock for the hiking passport.

In autumn the woods in the valley change colour, and the falls remain the fixed point of the loop, even when the light goes earlier. One layer more than you thought in the morning makes sense: it is cool in the valley, spray hangs at the falls, and gravel is slippery after a shower.

A long tour in standing rain is a different decision. What then makes sense in the house at Lake Schluchsee is in the article Black Forest in the rain.

Wet shoes and four hours of path end in Schluchsee-Aha in the same house. The wellness area has an indoor pool with a counter-current system, a brine pool and the saunas. In the evening the seasonal menu follows at Restaurant Auerhahn. The hike remains the day, the hotel the frame afterwards.

Rooms and availability are listed via booking.