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June 20, 2016

A Walk in the Tree Tops


With summer solstice only a handful of days away you'd think that the weather should be nice, but temperatures were annoyingly low at a mere 11°C (52°F) last Sunday, no Tees and shorts but bundling up with windbreakers and Buffs. A short drive would take us to our destination in the Northern Black Forest close to Bad Wildbad. Back in 2014 a curious pathway was opened to the public on Sommerberg ("Summer Mountain"): The Tree Top Walkway, an elevated wooden structure on level with the tree tops.


The trail itself is fairly short, a mere 1.25km (not even a mile) but 20 meters above the forest floor, and comes with spectacular views. To make the hike more interesting an obstacle course with moving parts, ropes and chains has been installed in frequent intervals. It was a lot of fun, not only for the kids. At the end of the walkway a tower awaits, and leads in circles to the top of the world (ok, trees).


The architecture reminded a bit of a gasometer sans its shell, and was beautiful to look at. Needless to say that the view was well worth the climb. And for the bravest among us an easy way down was offered: a tunnel slide. We, however, preferred to return on foot, and left this feature to the little ones.


On a side note we discovered a nice and very motorcycle compatible stretch of road that we will hopefully get to test ride soon... should it ever dry up. Come on, bring on the summer.

13 comments:

  1. Really cool trail. I went on a treetop trail in Singapore. Lots of signs warning you not to carry food especially in plastic grocery bags. I guess the local wildlife (monkeys) have figured that one out and will grab them and run into the trees.

    The circular ramp and slide looks pretty impressive.

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    1. We haven't got a monkey problem over here yet ;-)
      There might be some curious birds though, but that's all. There haven't been any -food verboten- signs around.

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  2. Wow, is that ever cool. I love the patterns in the steps and spiral/ramp too. Patterns were always something Bobskoot pointed out. Did you get dizzy going up or coming down?

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    1. Brandy, I was also intrigued by the patterns. The circles were very wide so dizziness wasn't an issue.

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  3. Pretty cool "trail".....

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  4. Agreed Sonja, that is so cool! I've never had a chance to be up in the trees and your Tree Top Walkway is an amazing example. From right here in my soft chair, I'd like to believe that I'd have slid down.

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    1. That's what Roland said, Coop. And when he saw the dark mound of the slide he bailed ;-)

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  5. that looks incredible, and all those stunning views! I assume, Dominik would have chosen the slide :-).

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    1. Yvonne, I am sure he would have broken the slide record.

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  6. Oh, das ist was für mich. Könnte man ja glatt mit der Mopedtour zu euch verbinden :-)

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    1. Aber klar doch, Biki. Immer gern!

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  7. Love the tree top walk Sonja, looks like a lot of fun. I would have went down the tube slide, that would have been heaps of fun.

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