Rundwanderung: Kissinger Runde Bad Kissingen - Rhön

Gradierwerk - Bad Kissingen

This route description begins at the Gradierwerk car park. At the graduation tower (with public toilet), which is in operation during the season from May to October, the path leaves the Saale valley and leads leisurely uphill, initially through a built-up area towards Sinnberg. Past the Giebelhof (paddocks, free-range chickens, etc.) and the Rhönblick allotment garden, he reaches the Bismarck Tower. The Bismarck Tower is open from Easter to October during the season. 88 steps lead to the viewing platform. From here you can see the Kissinger Runde almost completely. In addition, some striking mountains of the Bavarian Rhön can be seen in the north in the distance. Starting from the Platzer Kuppe over the Black Mountains to the highest mountain in the Bavarian Rhön, the Kreuzberg, and over the Heidelstein to the Lange Rhön. From the Bismarck Tower the path continues uphill to the Sinnberg. A stop at Café Sinnberg would be possible here. At the highest point of the Sinnberg, the Sinnberg weather shelter also invites you to take a break. The route continues downhill, past various soldiers' graves from the war of 1866. At a particularly striking monument to this “fratricidal war”, the B 287 federal road has to be crossed. Now it goes up gently, also in the forest, to the Osterberg weather shelter. From here you have a beautiful view of the city, the striking Altenberg and up to Sodenberg near Hammelburg, about 30 km away. Slightly sloping, the path continues through the forest, past a mass grave from the aforementioned war, past the statue of St. Wendelin to the cemetery of honor for those who fell in World War I. The Stationsberg can be reached via the so-called Panzerstraße. The path climbs slightly to the Botenlauben castle ruins (public toilet at the foot of the ruins). The oldest building in the city offers a view of the Saale valley with the adjoining mountains from its two tower ruins, only from a new perspective. Now it goes steeply downhill to Reiterswiesen. (Serpentine to Kissinger Straße) Here there is the possibility to end or start the tour with the city bus. (Stop on the street). The Kissinger Strasse is crossed. The path first leads uphill over Finsterberg, then downhill to the right over field paths towards Arnshausen. After crossing the federal highway B 286, the route leads north past Arnshausen and in a tunnel under the railway lines Bad Kissingen - Schweinfurt or Bad Kissingen - Gemünden. At about this point, the “Kissinger Runde” is halfway through. At the edge of the forest, the path leads, also as a cycle path, to the Bad Kissinger Golf Club (refreshment stops, parking spaces). A footbridge leads over the Franconian Saale. Then the golf course is crossed. Caution: flying golf balls! Immediately afterwards the federal road B 287 is crossed again. Now it goes, partly steeply, uphill in the forest past the Wichtelhöhlen refuge to the "Wichtelhöhlen", a sandstone rock formation with numerous legends. From the edge of the forest we are on the "Path of Reflection", a section of the Kissinger Runde. Various artistic objects, biblical quotations and contemplative texts aim to stimulate thought. In this area there are beautiful views of the KissSalis Therme, the Garitz district and the city of Bad Kissingen. At the end of this section there is a parking lot on the outskirts of Garitz. The road is crossed. The path runs downhill until the B 286 has to be crossed again (Stadtbus stop), before the path again plunges into the forest for a long time. Half of the Staffelsberg is circled. In this section, the path is part of the “Ludwigsturm forest exploration path”. Here you can study newly planted, native forest trees using information boards, but also z. Admire some of the very old, stately oaks. Past the “Ilgenhalle” refuge and the “Ilgenwiese”, the path gently descends towards the Kaskadental. Before this can be achieved, a street has to be crossed one last time. Now the most scenic part of the “Kissinger Runde” begins. The cascade brook babbles towards the Franconian Saale via artificially created cascades. At the Altenburger Haus hiking car park, the path runs parallel to the road along the edge of the forest. Then we cross the main road. The path crosses the meadows of the airfield and leads over a bridge to the graduation tower, the starting point of the “Kissinger Runde”.