Destination Guide
Cycling in Black Forest
Cycling in the Black Forest: Schauinsland's forested switchbacks above Freiburg, Feldberg's summit plateau, and Germany's most scenically rewarding road cycling region on the Rhine's eastern edge.
Last updated: 16 Mar 2026
- Terrain
- Road, Gravel
- Difficulty
- Moderate — Challenging
- Road Quality
- Excellent
- Cycling Culture
- Strong
- Traffic
- Low
Pro Cycling Connection
The Black Forest region has served as a race venue for the Schwarzwald-Hochstrasse classics and regional German racing for decades. The area around Freiburg has a strong amateur cycling culture reinfo...
Best Time to Cycle in Black Forest
The Black Forest operates across a longer usable cycling season than the Bavarian Alps, with the lower maximum altitudes — Feldberg at 1,493m is the highest point — meaning fewer weather and snowfall constraints. The core season runs May through Sept...
Temperature: -8°C (winter) to 28°C (summer)
Best Cycling Climbs in Black Forest
Belchen (from Münstertal)
10.5km · 700m · 6.7% · CAT2
The Belchen (1,414m) is the Black Forest's finest compact summit climb — a 10.5km ascent from the Münstertal valley at 400m to a cable car summit with one of the region's most celebrated panoramas. The gradient of 6.7% average makes this a steeper proposition than the long Schauinsland or Kandel approaches, and the upper section above the Belchen-Schauinsland ridge connection steepens to 13% with exposed hairpins and expansive views over the Rhine plain. The Münstertal approach passes through a valley of extraordinary beauty — the Romanesque Kloster St. Trudpert monastery at the valley entrance, narrow gorge sections, and the gradual opening toward the final climb providing variety across the 10.5km. At the summit, the Belchen restaurant and cable car station offer a natural rest point, and on clear days the four-country panorama — Black Forest, Vosges, Swiss Alps, and the Rhine plain — is the finest in the region.
Feldberg (from Todtnau)
14.5km · 870m · 6% · CAT1
The Black Forest's highest peak at 1,493m is accessible by road from the valley floor, and the Todtnau approach from the south is the finest cycling ascent to the Feldberg plateau. The 14.5km from Todtnau gains 870m at a sustained 6.0% average — a long, consistent effort through increasingly open spruce forest before the summit plateau emerges above the treeline in the final 3km. The upper road carries sections of 14% on the steeper hairpins as the gradient forces the route up the final exposed slope to the ski station complex. At 1,493m, the Feldberg is the highest point in the Black Forest and the highest in Germany outside Bavaria — on clear days the panorama extends across the Alps from Mont Blanc in the southwest to the Zugspitze in the east, a horizon of 400km of Alpine peaks that makes this one of the great viewpoints in Central Europe. The Feldberg-Thurner ski area at the summit has cafés and facilities open year-round.
Kandel (from Waldkirch)
16km · 870m · 5.4% · CAT1
The Kandel (1,241m) is the Black Forest's most underappreciated climb and, for many local riders, the finest sustained ascent in the central region. The approach from Waldkirch in the Rhine plain covers 16km at 5.4% average — a long, rhythmic climb through quintessential Black Forest landscape: the Elz valley narrowing steadily as altitude increases, beech forest giving way to dark spruce, roadside shrines and farm buildings decreasing until the final open switchbacks above the treeline. The upper section steepens to 13% on the direct approach to the summit plateau where the Kandel telecommunications tower marks the highest point. The descent toward St. Peter and St. Märgen on the eastern side drops through a landscape of Black Forest farmhouses, cherry orchards, and the open meadows of the inner-Black Forest highland — entirely different in character to the dense western forest approach. The contrast between the two sides makes Kandel a more satisfying crossing than a simple out-and-back.
Notschrei (from Staufen im Breisgau)
20km · 980m · 4.9% · CAT1
The Notschrei pass (1,112m) is the Black Forest's longest and most gradual southern approach — a 20km ascent from the wine town of Staufen im Breisgau at 280m that rises through the Münstertal and Wiedener Eck in long, sweeping curves rather than tight switchbacks, accumulating 980m of elevation with the characteristic patience of a German mountain road. The gradient averages 4.9% but the consistency across 20km means the total effort is comparable to steeper, shorter climbs. The road passes through several distinct landscape zones: the Staufen wine country and cherry orchards below 500m, transitioning to mixed deciduous forest through the Klemmbach valley, and finally the upper open pasture and spruce forest of the Belchen massif. The Notschrei summit connects directly to the inner Black Forest ridge network — the Feldbergstraße and the high-level Schwarzwald-Hochstrasse — making it a natural gateway for longer ridge traversals.
Schauinsland (from Horben)
12km · 720m · 6% · CAT1
Schauinsland is the Black Forest's definitive climb and Freiburg's local mountain — a 1,284m summit directly above the city that has served as the finishing mountain of the Schauinsland hillclimb race (Giro del Nero) since 1925, making it one of Germany's longest-running cycling events. The ascent from Horben covers 12km at 6.0% average, rising through dense Black Forest spruce with consistent rhythm and no single catastrophic section — the gradient builds steadily to its maximum of 12% on the final exposed hairpins before the cable car station summit. The road surface is superb throughout, and the forest provides shade on hot summer days that the more exposed Feldberg summit road does not. The view from the Schauinsland summit across the Rhine plain to the Vosges mountains in France — on clear days the Alsatian plain stretches visibly westward — is among the finest panoramas in southwest Germany. The extended approach from Freiburg city centre adds a further 8km at 3-4% for riders who do not need a car shuttle to Horben.
Insider Tips
Freiburg is one of Germany's most cycle-friendly cities with an extensive urban cycling infrastructure. Unlike Garmisch or Berchtesgaden, riding directly from central Freiburg acco...
The Black Forest's gravel network is substantial and largely unmapped in English-language sources. The inner-Black Forest highland between Titisee, St. Peter, and Furtwangen carrie...
Black Forest accommodation centres around Gasthöfe and traditional Schwarzwaldhotels rather than specialist cycling hotels. The benefit is an authentic regional experience — dark w...
The B500 Schwarzwald-Hochstrasse ridge road between Baden-Baden and Freudenstadt is not a classified 'climb' in the traditional sense — it runs at 900-1,000m altitude for 60km alon...
Kirschwasser — the Black Forest's double-distilled cherry schnapps — is produced throughout the region and served as a digestif in virtually every Gasthof. The correct post-climb p...
How to Get to Black Forest for Cycling
Getting around: Car Recommended
Freiburg im Breisgau is the natural base for Black Forest cycling — a vibrant university city of 230,000 at the southwestern edge of the region, with direct road access to Schauinsland and the Notschr...