Freiburg–Lake Constance Black Forest Trail

Freiburg–Lake Constance Black Forest Trail
The Hohenhewen in the Hegau
Length180 km
LocationGermany,
Baden-Württemberg,
Black Forest
TrailheadsFreiburg i. Br.; Konstanz
Uselong distance path
Elevation change940 m
Highest pointHochfirst (1,190 m)
Lowest pointFreiburg (250 m)
Difficultyeasy, but in the Wutach Gorge, medium to difficult in places
Seasonspring to autumn
Waymarkwhite and red diamond on a yellow background
SightsHochfirst, Buchberg, Hohenhewen, Hegau Cross
Maintained byBlack Forest Club

The Freiburg–Lake Constance Black Forest Trail (German: Schwarzwald-Querweg Freiburg-Bodensee) is a long-distance footpath that runs in an east–west direction in the Black Forest region of Baden-Württemberg, Germany.

Its western end is the city of Freiburg, in the Rhine valley; its eastern end is the city of Konstanz, on Lake Constance (German name: Bodensee). The name Querweg means "cross route", referring to the fact that the classic long-distance routes in the Black Forest, which were developed in the early 20th century, run north–south. The Querweg (as it is briefly known) was developed in the mid-1930s. The longer name is used to distinguish this path from other east–west routes in the Black Forest.

Available guide books (e.g. Bremke, 1999) describe walking the route in the west–east direction, which leads to sharp climbs on the first one or two days and then more gradual descents for the rest of the route. From Freiburg, the route passes through Stegen, Buchenbach, Hinterzarten, Titisee-Neustadt, Kappel (part of the municipality of Lenzkirch), the Wutach Gorge, Blumberg, Engen and Singen. Its total length is approximately 180 kilometres (110 mi). Its highest point is 1,192 metres (3,911 ft), at the Hochfirst Tower, just north of the village of Saig in the Lenzkirch municipality. Because the path cuts across the Black Forest, and then continues across the volcanically formed Hegau region before skirting Lake Constance in its final section, it offers a great variety of landscape and vegetation.