The primeval forest trail in the west of the national park was designed as an educational trail. There are 10 stations on the circular trail, which are marked with number signs. If you want to know what is behind the numbers, you should take the leaflet available at the starting point or - for comprehensive information - borrow the "Wegbegleiter", a folder with lots of interesting facts, from the National Park Information Center on the Harsberg opposite the youth hostel.
The stations deal with topics such as deadwood, spruces, forest edges and wild service trees. After station 6, you cross the "Hohe Straße", an old trade route on the ridge of the Hainich, and stand in front of the "Stone Table", once a resting place for coachmen.
From there, the path leads back into the forest and soon you are surrounded by beautiful, lush white carpets of flowers when the wild garlic is in bloom. At a fork, follow the signpost to the left and you will soon be back at the starting point.
Symbol
Trunk with tinder sponges
Length
1.6 km
Starting point
From the "Urwald-Life-Camp" youth hostel near Lauterbach, walk through the barrier into the national park. After about 200 m, the information board for the "Urwaldpfad" is located on the right at the starting point.
Address:
"Urwald-Life-Camp" youth hostel
Harsbergstraße 4
99826 Lauterbach/Thuringia
Difficulty level
easy
The primeval forest trail is one of a total of four "Thuringian primeval forest trails" in the Hainich National Park, a project of WWF Germany. Selected hiking trails throughout Thuringia have been awarded this title. The aim of the Thuringian primeval forest trails is to promote acceptance and ecological understanding of forests that are not used for forestry through experiencing them. The creation of the Thuringian primeval forest trails is also intended to support nature-friendly regional development and generate additional added value in tourism.