Motorcycle tours in the Black Forest

Some roads appear in every touring guide. And then there is the location that puts them right outside the door, with no ride to reach them first. Baiersbronn lies at the heart of the northern Black Forest and its twisting roads. Only minutes separate Obertal from the Schwarzwaldhochstraße, the Black Forest High Road, from the passes around the Kniebis and the Ruhestein, and from the winding valley roads towards the Rench and Kinzig valleys.

If you arrive by motorcycle, there are no long transfer stages to ride first. The region's finest roads can be ridden as half-day and full-day loops straight from the hotel. Out in the morning, a stop for lunch, the second loop in the afternoon.

The Schwarzwaldhochstraße between Baden-Baden and Freudenstadt is considered one of Germany's loveliest scenic roads. Around 60 kilometres along the spine of the northern Black Forest, much of it at roughly 1,000 metres. The road pairs flowing sequences of bends with views that reach as far as the Rhine plain and the Vosges on a clear day.

Along the way, the classic stops follow one another, the Mummelsee of legend, the Ruhestein with its National Park Centre and the Schliffkopf with its wide panorama. Start early and you have the road almost to yourself. On summer weekends it turns into a meeting place for the biking crowd from late morning.

The B500 is the backbone, but the real treasures lie on the roads that branch off it. The best known is the twisting descent towards Oppenau to the Allerheiligen waterfalls and the ruins of the Gothic abbey. A short walk that makes the break from the saddle doubly worthwhile. The crossings via Zuflucht and the Alexanderschanze towards the Kniebis are also among the roads you will want to ride more than once.

If you like valleys, combine the Murg and Rench valleys into a single circuit. Down along the Murg, over the ridge into the Rench valley and back along the High Road. A constant alternation of river bends and hairpins, with a panorama opening up again and again.

For half a day, ride from Obertal over the Ruhestein onto the B500, north as far as the Mummelsee and back via the High Road and the Murg valley. Compact and full of views, with a stop for refreshments at the lake. For a full day, the big loop via Freudenstadt into the Kinzig valley is the natural choice, through the half-timbered villages of the central Black Forest and back up to the heights by way of the Rench valley.

Two practical notes. On certain stretches in the region, seasonal speed limits and rules for motorcycles apply, and the current signage has the final say. And the altitude makes itself felt. Even in summer it can be ten degrees cooler up top than down in the valley.

As a base for days on the bike, Obertal is hard to beat. The big roads are close at hand, quiet back roads let you warm up and wind down, and in the evening the valley settles back into stillness. At Engel Obertal the riding day ends in fitting style. First park the bike, then head into Wolke 7 and loosen the shoulders that the rhythm of the bends has kept tense all day.

And when a rest day is due, half the region can be explored without a helmet, on foot in the Wanderhimmel hiking network or on a circuit of the nearby huts.