Ellerspring (657 m) and the Wildburg Heights (629 m)
If you take the road from
Bad Sobernheim
to
Gemünden,
you cut straight across the Soonwald foothills before reaching the Zollstock
heights and as you approach the hamlet of Daubach the forest opens
up and your view falls on the main Soonwald range in the distance. On the
highest point a television tower has been placed. This point, which is also
the highest point of the entire Soonwald range, is called Ellerspring.
In order to visit this place you have to drive past Daubach, Winterburg,
Winterbach and Kreershäuschen to the "Rennweg" which has car
parking for hikers. Rennweg (the name can probably be deduced from "Rhine
Route") is one of the most ancient long-distance roads of prehistoric times.
It runs along the Hunsrück Heights and today is a part of the European long-distance
hiking trail No. 3, which leads from the Atlantic to the Black Sea. Entenpfuhl
is the name of the surrounding forest district which encompasses almost boundless
and wholly untouched emerging forests where the legendary
Hunter of Kurpfalz
once roamed.
One mountain hike that is very much worth doing leads up from Rennweg to Ellersping
and from there on to upper Gräfenbach Valley, where there is a nature reserve
"Glashütter Meadow" with species-rich grasses: a mixture of yellow oat, mat-grass,
and forest bulrushes. From Gräfenbach Valley the pathway leads to Simmernkopf
(653 m), which has a gorgeous view over the Hunsrück heights to
Kirchberg,
the
Nunkirche Church
and the Hunsrück Cathedral in
Ravengiersburg.
From Simmernkopf the path leads on to "Kohlweg" trail along the mountain ridge
that runs parallel to Rennweg. After about an hour, above the forester's house
on Ellerspring mountain, you reach a narrow road, which you cross in order
to finally reach the Wildburg heights (Wildburghöhe). Here, on the quartzite
cliffs, stand the ruins of the keep of Wildburg Fortress, which was
first documented in 1253. Now in a state of dilapidation, the structure once
had a base of about 140 m by 100 m. It was protected to the south by a moat
and to the north by a circular trench surrounding the rampart. The mighty
southern wall system was possibly of
Celtic origins;
it is easy to imagine that a place of refuge for the Celtic Treverians once
stood here. In the Middle Ages the royal woodlands were governed from Wildburg
and the roads from the Nahe River through central Hunsrück to the Mosel River
were protected by it. The few remains of walls that still stand together with
the rugged rocks in this isolated place abruptly cast a spell over the visitor.
Here, on a warm summer's evening, it can leave a lasting impression when you
watch the last rays of the sinking sun light the sky off in the west, while
in the valley below twilight has already set in. Especially impressive is
the contrast of a visit in winter when snow lies on the ground and the castle
on the ridge of Soon Forest, defenceless against the cold winds, gives you
something of an idea of the solitude and pitiless cold which the people of
the Middle Ages suffered.
The return journey leads across a boulder field, down past the forester of
Wildburg's lodge and from there, on to Lamet creek. This creek flows in a
depression between the two Soonwald main ridges through boggy meadows and
moors, which is a conservation area. Then the path leads a bit uphill again
to Rennweg. Finally, after 6 hours, you will reach your starting point after
a wonderful day and a glorious hike.