Belchen Supertour
Description
The starting point of the tour is Staufen, just south of Freiburg. Here you board the train for the first section and take the S3 to the terminus in Münstertal. Now it's time to climb 1000 meters up to the Belchen (1414 meters above sea level). To do this, you first follow an asphalt road past Neumühle, which later changes to gravel and winds its way through the dense forest at a pleasant gradient. You reach the main road, but then keep right and reach the Belchenstrasse a little later. Climb up this road to the summit. If you want to save yourself this last part of the ascent, roll down to the valley station of the gondola lift and let yourself be shuttled up almost to the summit. The Belchen is one of the most beautiful panoramic mountains in the Black Forest. Almost the entire southern Black Forest lies at your feet here, the Roche towers in Basel are clearly visible and, on a clear day, the main Alpine ridge forms the horizon.
The descent then leads down the trail to the Hochkelchsattel - smooth, fun but sensitive. There are also many hikers here and a particularly considerate riding style is required. There are many pedestrians, especially on the circular route around the Belchen. After the Hochkelchsattel, the number of hikers decreases, the path remains undiminished and winds endlessly through the north-western flanks of the Belchen. Only a few times is the trail interrupted by sections on gravel roads, the rest of the descent down to Neumühle is pure flow pleasure in the S1 range.
After Neumühle comes the second part of the tour, for which you ride up to Gabler Eck (400 vertical meters). The trails here are so flowy that they are even easy to ride uphill. Only the last few meters up to Gabler Eck are very steep and push even e-mountain bikers to their limits. However, this section is less than a hundred meters long. After Gabler Eck, what you have already experienced on the Belchen descent continues: pure super flow. The S1 trail leads quickly and fun over the ridge down to Sulzburg. Conclusion: one of the best descents in the entire Black Forest. After Sulzburg, you roll along country roads and cycle paths back to Staufen.
Tip: Start the tour early in the morning to head into the descent early to beat the crowds of hikers.
Note: The tour is located in Baden-Württemberg with the legal requirement of a two-meter rule. This tour contains elements that do not comply with this regulation. Rather, it reflects routes that are ridden by local mountain bikers. Compliance with the regulations is the responsibility of each individual mountain biker.
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Details of the tour
41 km
1495 m
1595 m
1 day
Staufen im Breisgau
Staufen im Breisgau
2470
well suited
More information
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User comments (4)
About the author: Thomas Giger
Note: This content has been automatically translated from German. Please report any incorrect translations.
The tour absolutely deserves its name: a MUST for anyone in the area!
The ascent on the gravel path is long and hard. Once you reach the road, the rest is child's play. There are a few hikers at the top who have taken the cable car up. We got on well with them although we had the feeling that they weren't used to meeting bikers.
The descent was rocky at first. The further down you ride, the more flowy and wooded it became. You have to enjoy the trails: You can rock through the winding path with almost no brakes.
The ascent to the second part is definitely worth it, even if your legs protest! We put all our remaining strength into a high-level trail that goes up and down again and again. When it finally only goes down, the fun part begins. We had a lot of fun on this beautiful trail that never seems to end!
A tour worth recommending. From our point of view, the trails were more varied on the second part (Gabler Eck) than down from Belchen. We rode the tour in good weather on Sunday, September 17. In the upper section we encountered about 10 groups of climbers (mostly in twos). On the second part up to Gabler Eck we were alone.
We spent the night at the Hotel Adler (Münstertal) and parked the car in the morning directly at Staufen station and rode the train to Münstertal.
Wonderful tour. The summit is very busy on Sundays and there is probably a bike ban at the top. Here I would turn left from the Belchenhaus directly into the trail or walk to the summit. Trail starts with a few nice roots and then gets faster and faster. Met 4 hikers, greeted them in a friendly manner and stopped. Helps everywhere. Unique views of the Vosges, Jura and Alps...
I rode the tour on July 24, 2022: a beautiful Sunday with the best hiking conditions. Started the descent at around 10 a.m. and only met five people as far as Neumühle. On the trail from Gabler Eck there was no one at all. So not so bad with the hikers! All in all, a fantastic route.