Reistenhausen-Kirschfurt round

From the public parking lot at the Reistenhausen cemetery, which is a listed monument and where you should definitely take your time, the path leads downhill and meets the C3 hiking trail; we follow it to the left, go up the hollow path, and after the end of the paved road, reach the “White Picture,” a Marian image column. The tour continues left on the C3, which after a few meters turns left uphill into a meadow path, passing the former Jewish cemetery towards the forest edge and continuing on soft ground to a gravel path. We follow the C3 to the right here and then reach the Kolping shelter, inviting a first rest. At the following fork, we keep left, gently uphill on the C3, which ends just below the hilltop in a sharp left turn and continues on a trail marked with a blue mushroom. After some hundred meters, this trail branches off right at a right angle uphill from the main path and reaches the hilltop and the sandstone cross, already located in Mönchberg municipality; an interesting story surrounds the worn-out missing parts of it. From there, the path continues on the Eselsweg (Donkey Path), and we must be careful not to miss the turn left onto a narrow path. We pass the “Spießbrunnen” crossroads and then the next crossroads called “Collenberg junction,” from which we always follow the hiking trail marked with a red diagonal bar on a white background downhill. Halfway up the hill, the forest opens to a wonderful panoramic view of the Main valley with Freudenberg and its castle.

Almost at the forest edge, we reach the crossroads “Freudenberger Weg.” Here we have the choice to follow the E8 and Marian path straight downhill to the district of Kirschfurt and from there take the train back to the starting point, or for the full round, turn sharply left at this point onto a game trail that leads us to the path passing a few meters below. This is the E8 and Marian path coming up from Kirschfurt, which leads over some flat and steep sections halfway up the hill and above the mighty sandstone quarries through the forest to the district of Reistenhausen. From the forest edge, we enjoy a beautiful distant view of the Main valley and then reach the Marian chapel, whose bell you are welcome to ring and send greetings into the valley. Steeply downhill, we reach the first houses, pass the church, and via Bildstraße with the houses of the stone barons, return to the starting point.

Note: The round can alternatively be walked starting from the “Freudenberg-Kirschfurt” train stop, although it is recommended to hike the route in the direction described above.