Traumschleife Burgstadt-Pfad (Burgstadt Trail Dream Loop)

The Burgstadt trail starts off near the Schinderhannes cycle route at a “portal” showing the castle and town silhouette of Kastellaun. The town can still be seen for several hundred meters along the path, which crosses a small stream and happens upon a biomass power plant (0.5 km), an ecological showcase project at the edge of the forest. Dwelling on this theme, the trail now leads past a forester’s lodge (0.8 km), crosses the road to Spesenroth, and then immediately disappears in the dense forest. After a short stretch, the “Pfingstwald” resting area invites to a number of games. Having crossed two small streams soon after, we recognize how important the Jewish community used to be in Kastellaun from the Jewish cemetery just out of town (1.5 km). Back in the “Pfingstwald” forest, the trail then approaches the Trimmbach stream (1.9 km), where the water pushes up to the surface in the dense grass. The next striking juncture to follow is marked by the “Mönchstrasse parking site” (2.1 km), where the forest is drastically transformed, now alternating between spruce and deciduous. The following sections highlight the wide, open landscape that is so characteristic for the Hunsrück. From the “Soonwaldblick” lookout point (3.2 km), we experience a grand vista of the Soonwald mountain range, ca. 15 km away to the south. Preferring the mysterious atmosphere of the tranquil forest, the route then crosses broad forestry trails on several occasions while leading us right through the middle of this otherwise dense wood. We next happen upon the trail’s idyllic high point at the “Waterlily Pond” which, although not all that large, still has space for a small island in its silvery, shimmering waters (4.3 km). Here, with roughly half the round tour behind us, a picnic area beckons to rest. The path then dives into the dense wood once more, ultimately reaching the Mönchstrasse forest playground (5.5 km).  Walking beside a long trench left behind by an ancient road, we are now drawing ever closer to the starting point of our tour again. On the way, we get a view of the forest adventure park, a rope course with suspension bridges at vertiginous heights. Then the trail leads into an area of forest destroyed by storm “Kyrill” in 2007 (6.5 km). With great effort, rangers have created a path here that leads right through this mess of trees, gigantic roots and deep holes with ladders and platforms, enabling us to experience the vehemence of this catastrophe up close even today. We climb through this overthrown forest astonished, finally arriving back at the portal marking the start of the Burgstadt trail.