huckepack

Schluchtensteig

Length

119 km: the stated length (Infostelle Schluchtensteig (Landratsamt Waldshut)).

Measured on our map line: 119.3 km, the route as OpenStreetMap maps it along the official track. The charts on this page run along the same line, and the search sorts trails by it, so lengths compare the same way.

119km

Ascent · descent

3,180 m up and 3,290 m down: the stated totals (Infostelle Schluchtensteig (Landratsamt Waldshut)).

The 6 main stages in the stages table add up to 2,958 m up and 3,065 m down.

3,180m ↑3,290m ↓

Difficulty

How hard a trail is, in three ways: the terrain, the climate in season and the length of the days. Each is rated from Easy to Hard with the same thresholds for every trail, and takes its hardest measure. It describes the trail, not how it will feel to you: that depends on your fitness, experience, pack and the weather you get.

  • Terrain: ModeratePath grade: ≈ T2
  • Climate: Moderate in Sep–OctCold: 5 °C at night (October)
  • Effort: DemandingLongest day: 8 h (stage 6)

All measures

Terrain: Moderate; Climate: Moderate in Sep–Oct; Effort: Demanding
Suggested
5–6days

Per stage

The 6 main stages' totals over their number (Schwarzwald Tourismus GmbH on Outdooractive), so the averages come from one source.

19.9km· 490 m ↑
Season

Landscape

Land cover along the main route, from ESA WorldCover satellite data:

  • Forest: 76%
  • Grassland and shrubs: 17%
  • Farmland and villages: 7%

Landscape along the route

Mostly Forest

Location

Country
Germany
Regions
Baden-Württemberg
Start
Stühlingen
Finish
Wehr
Route type
Point to point
Travel hubs
  • Basel Badischer Bahnhof81.8 km by road · 72 min
  • EuroAirport Basel-Mulhouse (BSL)91.3 km by road · 87 min
  • Zürich Airport (ZRH)44.4 km by road · 66 min
Protected areas
Naturpark Südschwarzwald; Wutachschlucht nature reserve
Managed by
Landratsamt Waldshut (Infostelle Schluchtensteig)Official website
Waymarking
The Schluchtensteig diamond of the Schwarzwaldverein, a stylised river between mountain and valley
  • Trail
  • Start
  • Stage start
  • Finish
  • Contour lines

Difficulty

Terrain

How hard is the ground to walk: the path, the climbing, the steep bits, the ground underfoot? Rated over the whole main route. The rating takes its hardest measure.

Path grade: the trail's SAC grade, stated, converted or estimated.

  1. EasyT1
  2. ModerateT2
  3. DemandingT3
  4. HardT4 to T6

Climbing: ascent of the main stages over their length.

  1. Easyunder 15 m per km
  2. Moderate15–30 m
  3. Demanding30–50 m
  4. Hard50 m or more

Steep stretches: share of the route steeper than 15 %, up or down (terrain model).

  1. Easyunder 5 %
  2. Moderate5–15 %
  3. Demanding15–30 %
  4. Hard30 % or more

Natural ground: share on footpaths and trails (OpenStreetMap); never Hard on its own.

  1. Easyunder a third
  2. Moderatea third to two thirds
  3. Demandingtwo thirds or more

Moderate

  • SAC hiking scale

    Trails rate their difficulty in many local scales, or only describe it in words. We translate each rating into the Swiss Alpine Club's hiking scale, from T1 (easy) to T6 (very hard), so trails can be compared. It stays an estimate: how hard a trail feels depends on your fitness, experience, pack and the weather.

    This trail: T2 (our estimate). The official stage pages describe narrow paths through the gorges, "teils etwas ausgesetzten schmalen Pfaden" in the Wutachflühen, an 8 m ladder-like stair into the Schleifenbach gorge (with a detour for dogs and walkers without a head for heights) and rock walls "mithilfe eines Drahtseilgeländers gesichert" along the Wutach. Mountain hiking on mostly good paths with a few secured, slightly exposed sections (T2); German Wikipedia rates every stage "schwer".

    1. T1 · HikingWell-made paths, mostly flat or gently sloping. No risk of falling; trainers are enough.
    2. T2 · Mountain hikingA continuous path, steep in places, where a fall can't be ruled out. Be sure-footed; wear hiking boots.
    3. T3 · Demanding mountain hikingThe path is not always visible; exposed spots may have chains or ropes, and you may need your hands for balance.
    4. T4 · Alpine hikingOften no path. Hands are needed in places, terrain is exposed, and there can be easy snowfields.
    5. T5 · Demanding alpine hikingMostly pathless, with easy climbing and exposed, demanding terrain. Needs alpine experience.
    6. T6 · Difficult alpine hikingPathless, very exposed, with climbing and glaciers. For experienced mountaineers only.

    The scale at the Swiss Alpine Club

    estimated T2
  • Climbing25 m per km
  • Steep stretches9 % of the way
  • Natural ground31 %

Climate

How hot, cold, wet and windy does it get? Rated for each month from 30 years of weather (ERA5). Without months picked (the search's When filter), the rating is for the trail's best run of at least two months in its season, and each measure shows its hardest month of that run; a pick re-rates it for your months. The rating takes its hardest measure.

Heat: mean daily high at the lowest point.

  1. Easyunder 22 °C
  2. Moderate22–27 °C
  3. Demanding27–32 °C
  4. Hard32 °C or more

Cold: mean nightly low at the highest point.

  1. Easy8 °C or more
  2. Moderate3–8 °C
  3. Demanding−2 to 3 °C
  4. Hardbelow −2 °C

Wet days: days a month with 1 mm of rain or more, the wetter of both points.

  1. Easyunder 10
  2. Moderate10–14
  3. Demanding14–18
  4. Hard18 or more

Snow: days a month with 1 cm of snow or more at the highest point.

  1. Easyunder 1 day
  2. Moderate1–3 days
  3. Demanding3–6 days
  4. Hard6 days or more

Wind: mean of the day's strongest wind (hourly mean, 10 m above ground), the windier of both points.

  1. Easyunder 15 km/h
  2. Moderate15–20 km/h
  3. Demanding20–25 km/h
  4. Hard25 km/h or more

Moderate in Sep–Oct

  • Heat · September20 °C by day
  • Cold · October5 °C at night
  • Wet days · September13 days
  • Snow · October1 day
  • Wind · October12 km/h

Effort

How long are the days? Rated by the longest main stage; a time range counts its upper end. The rating takes its hardest measure.

Longest day: walking time of the longest main stage, stated or by DIN 33466.

  1. Easyup to 4 h
  2. Moderate4–6 h
  3. Demanding6–8 h
  4. Hardmore than 8 h

Demanding

  • Longest day · stage 68 h

Climate

Days in season · lowest point
16–24°C
Nights in season · highest point
5–11°C
Wet days a month
13–18
Daylight
10.7–16.0h
SeasonDay high and night low−10 °C0 °C10 °C20 °C30 °CWet days, at the highest point5101520Daylight8.8 h10.2 h11.8 h13.6 h15.1 h16.0 h15.6 h14.3 h12.5 h10.7 h9.2 h8.4 hJanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Climate by month, 1995–2024 average
MonthLowest point, day high / night low (°C)Highest point, day high / night low (°C)Wet daysSnow daysFrost nights at the highest pointDaylight (h)
January5 / -1.40.9 / -5.114.410.7288.8
February6.9 / -0.82.5 / -4.412.78.324.110.2
March10.9 / 1.96 / -2.114.56.821.711.8
April14.9 / 5.310.1 / 1.314.4311.213.6
May18.7 / 9.613.9 / 5.617.50.50.915.1
June22.6 / 13.517.8 / 9.416.20016
July24.3 / 15.219.4 / 11.115.30015.6
August24.1 / 15.319.4 / 11.314.60014.3
September19.9 / 11.515.5 / 7.812.70.1012.5
October15.7 / 7.811.6 / 4.612.70.7310.7
November9.3 / 2.75.4 / -0.613.85.215.69.2
December5.6 / -0.41.7 / -3.715.610.425.98.4

Climate by month

Averages for 1995–2024 from ERA5 reanalysis via Open-Meteo, at the trail's lowest and highest point, adjusted to each point's elevation. Bars span the mean night low to the mean day high; wet days have at least 1 mm of rain, snow days at least 1 cm of snow. Daylight runs from sunrise to sunset in the middle of the month. The shaded months are the trail's season.

Stages

RouteDistanceAscentDescentElevationTime
1Stühlingen Blumberg18.6 km588 m ↑344 m ↓460 → 690 m5 h 30
2Blumberg Schattenmühle20.3 km262 m ↑304 m ↓700 → 660 m6 h 00
3Schattenmühle Schluchsee-Fischbach18.2 km729 m ↑342 m ↓670 → 1,050 m6 h 00
4Schluchsee-Fischbach St. Blasien20.1 km378 m ↑656 m ↓1,050 → 770 m6 h 30
5St. Blasien Todtmoos18.9 km615 m ↑574 m ↓770 → 810 m6 h 00
6Todtmoos Wehr23.5 km386 m ↑845 m ↓810 → 360 m8 h 00

Totals and averages count the main stages only. ≈ marks our estimates where the source gives no figure: heights from the terrain model (Copernicus DEM, 30 m grid, sampled every 100 m), to the nearest 10 m.

Terrain

Highest · lowest point
1,160m high348m low

Gradient

The steepest 500 m of the trail in walking direction, uphill and downhill. On this trail the steepest climb is 20 % (11°, 99 m up over 500 m) on stage 1, the steepest descent −23 % (13°, 114 m down) on stage 6.

A gradient is height per distance: 20 % means 20 m up for every 100 m forward. Percent and degrees don't grow alike: 100 % is 45°, not 90°.

GradientAngleFeels like
10 %6°Noticeable on a road
20 %11°A steep path, slow going
30 %17°Very steep, often steps
100 %45°Scrambling

Averages over 500 m from a 30 m terrain model: short pitches within them, such as steps and ladders, are steeper.

20% ↑−23% ↓

Steep stretches

How many kilometres of the main route climb or descend at 15 % or more (9°, 15 m of height per 100 m), measured in 200 m stretches: on this trail 4.4 km up and 5.6 km down, the darkest parts of the profile. Such stretches are slow going uphill and hard on the knees downhill.

10km

Surfaces

  • Natural ground: 31%, 36.7 km. Earth, grass, rock and roots: footpaths and forest trails. Can be muddy after rain.
  • Gravel: 52%, 61.6 km. Gravel, compacted and stony surfaces: mostly forest roads and farm tracks.
  • Paved: 16%, 19.3 km. Asphalt, concrete and cobbles: roads and village streets.

31% natural52% gravel16% paved
600 m1,000 m1,160 mStage 1Stage 2Stage 3Stage 4Stage 5Stage 60 km117.5 km

Terrain along the route

Heights from the Copernicus terrain model (30 m grid, every 100 m along the main route); it measures the treetops in forests, so heights may differ from signposts by some metres.

The profile colours each 200 m by its gradient in walking direction: the steeper, the darker, climbs warm and descents violet, from level ground to ±30 % and beyond.

The strip under the profile shows the ground underfoot, from OpenStreetMap; for the 2% of the route without a surface tag, the type of way decides (footpaths natural, tracks gravel).

Landscape

Forest76%Grassland and shrubs17%Farmland and villages7%Stage 1Stage 2Stage 3Stage 4Stage 5Stage 60 km117.5 km

Landscape along the route

Land cover from ESA WorldCover 2021 (10 m satellite map), every 100 m along the main route; each point takes the most common class within 30 m, so the path itself doesn't count as bare ground. Its eleven classes are folded into the six groups shown. It says what the landscape looks like, not which plants grow there.

Sleeping

Wild camping is restricted. Tents only at the Black Forest's bookable trekking camps (May to October, "erstmals ganz offiziell erlaubt", off the villages and found by GPS) and at the one-night camps that farmers, villages and private hosts offer along the Schluchtensteig; elsewhere camping in the forest isn't allowed.

15.2 km without a bedCamping12Huts3Hostels5Rooms27Stage 1Stage 2Stage 3Stage 4Stage 5Stage 60 km117.5 km

Places to sleep along the route

One tick per place to sleep along the main route, from OpenStreetMap: 12 campsites, 3 huts, 5 hostels, 27 guest houses within 1 km of the trail or 3 km of a stage's end (stage towns often lie off the trail). Hotels and day shelters are left out. The shaded column is the longest stretch without any, from km 0 to 15.2. The map may miss places or list ones that have closed, so book or check locally.

Water & Supply

Clean water

36 fountains, taps and springs marked as drinkable in OpenStreetMap within 500 m of the trail, and 3 places to sleep OpenStreetMap marks as having drinking water. Clean water also counts the 24 huts, hostels, guest houses and campsites within 500 m where hikers usually fill a bottle: guests come first, and many close out of season, so ask, and carry a little more than the gaps need. Places OpenStreetMap marks as without drinking water are left out. The counts include the approach and variant; the chart shows the main route.

Rated by the longest stretch of the main route without clean water: frequent up to 10 km, regular up to 20 km, scarce beyond. Here: from km 26 to 37.1, stage 2.

11.1kmRegular

Any water

Clean water, and the 9 springs within 500 m of the trail whose water is of unknown quality: filter, boil or treat it, and expect some springs to run dry in late summer. Here the longest stretch without any water runs from km 6.8 to 17.8. Rated like clean water: frequent up to 10 km, regular up to 20 km, scarce beyond.

11kmRegular

Shops

24 supermarkets, convenience and general stores and petrol stations with a shop in OpenStreetMap, within 1 km of the trail or 3 km of a stage's end (stage towns often lie off the trail). Small village shops are often missing, and opening hours vary: check before relying on one. Here the longest stretch without runs from km 95.5 to 115.6.

20.1km
Water · 11 km withoutPublic drinking water · 11.1 km withoutSprings (treat before drinking) · 28.2 km withoutRefills at places to sleep · 20.5 km withoutShops · 20.1 km withoutSupermarkets · 33.2 km withoutConvenience and general stores · 66.3 km withoutPetrol station shops · 53.4 km withoutStage 1Stage 2Stage 3Stage 4Stage 5Stage 60 km117.5 km

Water and shops along the route

One tick per place along the main route, from OpenStreetMap: drinking water and springs within 500 m, refills at huts, hostels, guest houses and campsites within 500 m, shops within 1 km or 3 km of a stage's end. The shaded band in each lane is its longest stretch without; "Water" counts every kind, and opens into one lane per kind, each with its own. The map may miss places or list ones that have closed or run dry, so check locally.

Wildlife

Wildlife

Animals that can be dangerous to hikers on this trail: large animals, venomous snakes, scorpions and spiders, ticks, and plants that harm on touch. The level is ours, read from the official source: High where a bite of a species it calls common can be life-threatening within hours; Moderate where it warns of attacks or serious harm, or places the trail in a risk area for tick-borne encephalitis; Low where the harm is mostly minor or treatable, or avoidable by how you behave. What to do comes from the official sources: Infostelle Schluchtensteig (Landratsamt Waldshut); Bundeszentrale für gesundheitliche Aufklärung (infektionsschutz.de).

The silhouettes come from PhyloPic, not to scale; each one's maker is named with its advice. The landscape is the trail's own, drawn by us.

Suckler cows on the pasturesModerateTicksModerate

Suckler cows on the pastures

Moderate danger

The official FAQ warns that the trail crosses pastures with suckler cows in season, where a mother cow defending her calf can't be ruled out.

If you meet one

  • Cross the pasture quickly
  • Keep your distance from cows and calves
  • Keep your dog on a lead

Advice: Infostelle Schluchtensteig (Landratsamt Waldshut). Level: ours. Silhouette: Katy Lawler (Bos taurus), PhyloPic, public domain.

Ticks (Lyme disease, tick-borne encephalitis)

Moderate danger

Ticks that carry Lyme disease live all over Germany, in forests and meadows; the Robert Koch Institute lists every district the Schluchtensteig crosses (Waldshut, Schwarzwald-Baar, Breisgau-Hochschwarzwald) as a risk area for tick-borne encephalitis (TBE), against which a vaccine protects.

If you meet one

  • Wear closed shoes, long sleeves and long trousers, the socks pulled over the trouser legs; light clothes show ticks
  • Use a tick repellent as its maker directs; it protects only for a while, and not fully
  • After the walk, search your body: the hollows of the knees, the groin, the armpits, behind the ears, the head and the hairline
  • Remove a tick as soon as you can: grip it by its head close to the skin with tweezers or a tick card, pull it slowly and straight out, then disinfect the bite
  • See a doctor if a red ring at least 5 cm across spreads around the bite within 3 to 30 days, or fever and aching follow a bite
  • Ask a doctor about the TBE vaccination well before you go: Germany's vaccination committee (STIKO) recommends it for people exposed to ticks in TBE risk areas

Don't

  • Treat the tick with oil or cream, or squeeze it: it may release more germs

Advice: Bundeszentrale für gesundheitliche Aufklärung (infektionsschutz.de). Level: ours. Silhouette: Guillaume Dera (Ixodes ricinus), PhyloPic, public domain.