Mountain biking in Baiersbronn

Mountain bikers have long since caught on to what hikers have known for years. Baiersbronn takes its paths seriously. Around 400 kilometres of signposted MTB routes thread through the woods around the Murg valley, divided into eleven tours of between 13 and 81 kilometres, the shortest an after-work loop, the longest an alpine day stage.

Up to a third of the network runs on singletrack, narrow paths left as nature made them. That is a figure hard to match anywhere in the Black Forest. Baiersbronn was among the first regions in the state to signpost singletrack routes officially rather than merely tolerate or ban them.

Finding your way is not a matter of faith here. The whole network is marked with yellow signposts that state distance and elevation gain at every key point. Tours, trails and bypasses are signed separately. If you would rather skip a technical section, there is always a gentler alternative.

On top of that, Baiersbronn Touristik provides free maps and its own tour app, in which routes can be filtered by length, vertical metres and difficulty. So the question of 500 or 1,500 metres of climbing can be settled at the breakfast table.

If you are new to mountain biking or want to get the children excited about biking, it is best to start small. The freely accessible Bike-Area Baiersbronn on the cycle path towards Freudenstadt is the place to practise cornering, balance and braking points. After that, into the woods.

For rides with children, the shorter tours in the network, with their wide stretches of forest track, are the ones to choose. Baiersbronn Touristik has its own recommendations for these under the heading "Biking with children". With an e-mountain bike, the climbing is less of an issue for younger riders too.

Ambitious riders get their teeth into the long tours. The big loops pack in up to 81 kilometres and climbing to match, crossing the ridges between the Murg and Tonbach valleys and the Schwarzwaldhochstraße. Flowing woodland paths alternate with rooty, technical passages. Boredom is not a realistic risk.

Two things count as good manners in these parts. Ride only on the designated routes, and show consideration wherever trail and footpath meet. In return there are plenty of huts along the way where both camps amicably share a bite to eat and the view.

To get to know the terrain with local knowledge on your side, join one of the guided MTB tours that Baiersbronn Touristik runs regularly. They range from technique training for beginners to e-bike tours with four-figure elevation gains.

At Engel Obertal, the network begins practically at the hotel entrance. Obertal lies at the upper end of the Murg valley, and the high ground around the Zuflucht and the Schliffkopf can be reached directly. E-bikes are ready and waiting in the hotel's own bike storage, and, as anyone who knows the house will tell you, the sauna afterwards is no minor matter.