You can officially camp in the forest at nine campsites in the northern and southern Black Forest – this is a real adventure for stressed townspeople who are alienated from nature. Because you can only get there on foot – equipped with a GPS device and map.
Sometimes something has to disappear so that you can tell that it has bothered you. Now it is gone, silent – the noise of people, cars and motorcycles. Other noises are still there and can suddenly be heard much more intensely: chirping birds, humming bumblebees, the wind rustling in the branches.
From the parking lot Kniebis it goes first to the Ellbachsee. He doesn't say anything either, just lies there quietly. He does not speak to the hikers with their bulging rucksacks, who follow the blue diamond and the logo of the Seensteig until they come across a sign with the promise "Adventure Trail".
Via a jungle trail to Camp Gutellbach
Hurricane Lothar had completely cleared the forest here. Nature was left to its own devices – and later a path was laid. It has grown so overgrown that it looks like a jungle trail. But it gets even more adventurous: Without the guard rails of the logos and markings, the group has to feel their way along a barely recognizable path to the Gutellbach Trekking Camp.
It is hidden in the middle of the forest, far from civilization and the cell phone network. When it comes to scouting, detailed directions and GPS data for the “last mile”, which you get when you register, help.
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Wild camping is officially allowed here
The trekkers are officially allowed to camp wild here, which is otherwise forbidden in the German forest. Well, it's not that wild after all. At Camp Gutellbach there are three marked tent sites, a fireplace and a toilet with a combination lock, the code of which is also given when you make your reservation. There has to be a bit of order – after all, Germany is still!
There are now nine such identically or similarly equipped storage spaces in the Black Forest. Three of them – Bösellach, Seibelseckle and Erdbeerloch – are even in the national park, which is unique in this country.
The following camps are located in the northern Black Forest:
1. Camp Grimbach
2. Seibelseckle
3. Camp Erdbeerloch
4. Camp Bösellbach
5. Camp Gutellbach
6. Camp Kniebis
The following camps are located in the southern Black Forest:
7. Camp Windberg
8. Camp quarry
9. Camp Felsenhalde
Info and booking:
Booking via the website of the Black Forest Middle / North Nature Park from the beginning of May to the end of October. There are also equipment tips and hiking suggestions. Fire is only allowed in the designated places. No wood may be collected at the three camps in the national park, but firewood is available. Each camp can only be used for one night. Further information: www.baiersbronn.de/trekking-camp, naturparkschwarzwald.de/trekking
Looking for water
The group first wants to see how things are at the waterhole. It is not located directly in the camp, but there is a sign that shows the way to the next spring. However, this is no guarantee that fresh water will flow there for a whole hot summer. This should be kept in mind when planning.
Cautious spirits will also boil the water or treat it with tablets. Yes, the hikers are on their own in the camps, at least a little. The office colleagues don't have to know that there is an emergency number for major mishaps and information about where the next location with cell phone reception is.
Camps fit the zeitgeist
After fetching water, the hikers unpack their rucksacks, the size of a giant's school bag. Tents, sleeping bags and sleeping mats, cookers, pots and gas cartridges, a change of clothes, hat and rain jacket, headlamp, first aid kit, hiking map and pocket knife, bag of soups, bread and fruit, muesli bars and chocolate all come to light. Here in the forest, dragged here by yourself, they are real treasures. The backpack spits out what people think they need when they set off for a weekend in real nature.
The camps fit the zeitgeist like a well-worn hiking boot fits your foot. In the first two summers, the initiators counted 3,700 overnight stays. Not being a slave to the smartphone for two days and sleeping in the Waldhotel for ten euros – that seems to appeal to many.
The hikers who arrive at Camp Gutellbach that evening are also relaxing now that the fire is flickering and the tents are firmly anchored. Holding tight to the steaming aluminum cups, they sit around the flames. To spice up their bag menu, they collected berries and mushrooms. Praised the smell of the moss floor. The fluttering sound of the bats. The rising moon, the Milky Way. The simplicity of life in the forest. After the meal they leaf through the guest book. "Mama is dragging with little sister," a medium-sized sister wrote down.
With backpack and tent – other trekking sites in Germany: Since wild camping is largely prohibited in Germany, tourism associations and regions are offering more and more so-called trekking sites or natural camp sites where you can camp for one to a maximum of three nights after booking in advance. In contrast to classic campsites, there are no snack bars, restaurants, sanitary facilities or swimming pools – just pure nature with organic toilet and fireplace. A similar concept to that in the Black Forest exists, for example, in the Steigerwald: www.trekkingerlebnis.de – there are fireplace, toilet and storage space available in ten camps.
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