DER HOCHRHÖNER® Hochrhönrunde - Poppenhausen - Rhön

• Grabenhöfchen
• Bubenbader Stein
• Milseburg
• Oberbernhardser Höhe
• Langenberg
• Schwarzbach
• Gotthards

From the Grabenhöfchen it goes uphill to the Bubenbad, a small lake in the forest. Legend has it that a girl turned into a boy here when she was baptized and thus gave the family an heir. After the Bubenbad, we get back to the open terrain under the rocky slopes of the Milseburg. Celts once settled at the foot of the mountain, a reconstructed section of a wall shows how they secured their village back then. We climb up a rocky path and reach the Gangolf chapel and a baroque crucifixion group on the summit of the Milseburg. Various information boards point to the summit wall, the Celtic settlement terraces and the former gate. From history it goes back to nature, because silver thistles and orchids bloom in the nature reserve Oberbernhardser Höhe. Via a short access road we reach the Lothar-Mai-Haus, on whose terrace a panoramic view to the north is impressive. The narrow meadow path leads to the road between Dörmbach and Elters. We hike through a varied meadow landscape towards Harbach. We keep to the west and reach a large refuge with information boards about the HOCHRHÖNER®. Behind it we follow a moss-covered path and halfway around the northern slope of the Kirschberg. Here is the HOCHRHÖNER® bench with a fantastic view of the Nüsttal and the Kuppenrhön. Then it goes to Langenberg, we walk through the village and turn right after the last house. At the aisle we have a magical view of the valley towards Schwarzbach. We go around Ulrichshauck and walk down the outskirts of Schwarzbach. After the sports field we pass the sour cherry and apple trees and reach Gotthards.

2nd day stage (15.2 km)

• Gotthards rest area
• Ahorn Platz
• Kettenborn
• Habelstein
• Tann (Rhön)

In Gotthards the mountain road climbs steeply and we see a good part of the previous stage. Through the forest we come to Ketten, where we cross the Hessian-Thuringian border. Here there are hardly any memories of the division of Germany within Germany, which ran less than 100 meters further east. From the road we walk on gravel forest paths up the Katzenstein and along the height in the forest. Back in the open area, the view wanders south to the Milseburg and the Wasserkuppe. Boxberg can only be reached by a green-marked feeder path that continues to Hilders. Above Boxberg we walk downhill on the road through a forest towards Habel and up to the summit of Habelberg (718 m). At the small refuge on the edge of the path, we can take a last look down into the village of Habel. The steep descent to Tann leads to the Ulster bridge. Along the park and city walls we come to the city gate with the distinctive, round towers. We reach the city through the gate built in 1557. Here you can visit the Elf Apostel House, the town fountain on the market square, the Ochsenbäcker half-timbered house, the St. Nicholas Church and the Rhön Museum Village as well as the palace complex of the Barons von und zu der Tann with the palace fountain.

3rd day stage (18.2 km feeder to Kaltensundheim 2.5 km)

• Tann (Rhön)
• Dietgeshof
• Andenhausen
• Horbel
• Pinzler
• Marschlerhof
• Kaltensundheim

Through the alleys of the town of Tann we walk past the cemetery, it goes steeply uphill and over the grass path to Dietgeshof. We reach the wide plateau via Andenhausen. At the edge of the forest we walk along the row of bushes and trees that mark the border between Thuringia and Hesse. The slab path, which belongs to the former border system, leads to the table and benches - ideal for taking a break. We walk into the valley and past the gardens of Andenhausen and through the village. From Andenhausen we walk uphill to the Horbel (665m). Shortly before its summit, turn left towards the Pinzler (661m). Before we pass this in the forest, we can make a detour to the Hexenlinde. Now we reach a resting point with benches and tables, from where we can see the ridge between Felda and Ulstertal. We reach Kaltennordheim via a steep descent lined with fruit trees and continue through fields and meadows to Mitteldorf. We now walk over a feeder to Kaltensundheim, the stage location of the day.

4th stage of the day (12.7 km feeder from Kaltensundheim 2.5km and feeder to Birx 1.5 km)

• Kaltensundheim
• Mittelsdorf
• Ellenbogen
• Frankenheim
• Birx

Via a feeder path, marked with a green "Ö", we walk back to the premium hiking path DER HOCHRHÖNER, which we start again at Mitteldorf. After crossing a watercourse, a steep ascent begins. From the valley of the Lahrbach we climb one of the Rhön mountain ranges along yellow blooming monkshood and the Turkish lily, which line the roadside in June. The hiking trail runs uphill for a long time through a forest area before we emerge from the forest and reach the tree-free areas of the Ellenbogen, the second highest mountain in the Thuringian Rhön. Noah's sails vantage point offers a sweeping view to the north. Shortly afterwards we reach two places to stop for a break, one after the other, namely the Eisenacher Haus and the Thuringian Rhönhaus. After crossing a small piece of forest, we come to a hiking car park with a seating area before we reach the Schnitzersberg, recognizable by the mobile phone mast, which is the highest mountain in the Thuringian Rhön at 816 m. The red kite often circles over the meadows and pastures. This will be our companion on the hike to Frankenheim, the highest place in the Rhön, and on to Birx.

5th day stage (25 km + feeder from Birx 1.5 km) INFO: The stage can be subdivided again on the Wasserkuppe (19.2 km + 5.8 km)

• Birx
• Schwarzes Moor
• Stirnberg (mountain)
• Schornhecke car park
• Heidelstein
• Rotes Moor
• Fuchsstein
• Fuldaquelle
• Wasserkuppe
• Abtsroda
• Enzianhütte
• Grabenhöfchen

Between Frankenheim and Birx for the HOCHRHÖNER® on the Plattenweg past former GDR border installations. We walk towards the Black Moor, which is home to a number of rare plants, such as the round-leaved sundew, which has adapted to the rough conditions of the Rhön. From the high moor, the hiking trail now leads us up the Melpertser Rasenberg with a slight but steady ascent. We walk over the long peak of the Stirnberg to the Rhönklub memorial stone on the Heidelstein. Over the mats of the Lange Rhön, the home of the black grouse, DER HOCHRHÖNER leads us to the Schwabenhimme, on which the red and white mast of the television station stands. From here the hiking trail runs downhill through a forest to the house on the Red Moor. We take the moor path and turn right at the refuge. Next to the Carpathian birches we see the lookout tower. Those who walk up can enjoy the view of the entire moor and the Heidelstein. The attentive hiker discovers one or two boulders of basalt between the forest and meadows. Through the dark spruce forest we reach the Fulda spring and finally the summit of the Wasserkuppe. Here is the last radome, the silver dome that hid one of four radars during the Cold War. We walk steeply down the northern slope of the Wasserkuppe and come to the grass hump of the Weiherberg, where model planes and machines often take off. Then we reach the Enzianhütte. From the Enzianhütte we walk a steep path to the Grabenhöfchen.