World Heritage Trail - Thuringia's Primeval Forests of Tomorrow

Hiking trails & Routes

Wartburgkreis

Hörselberg-Hainich

World Heritage Trail - Thuringia's Primeval Forests of Tomorrow

Moderate

4.8

(290)

876

hikers

World Heritage Trail - Thuringia's Primeval Forests of Tomorrow

02:43

9.83km

170m

Hiking

The World Heritage Trail leads through a particularly valuable part of the Hainich National Park. The circular route is marked with the UNESCO diamond and winds through ancient beech forests, which have been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2011.

On tranquil paths, you'll hike through impressive beech forests and…

by Nationalpark Hainich

Last updated: February 13, 2026

Tips

Your route passes through a protected area

Please check local regulations for:

Schutzzone 1 Nationalpark Hainich

Waypoints

Start point

Parking

Get Directions

44 m

The Hainichbaude

Highlight • Mountain Hut

A rustic hut with charm, nice service and delicious home cooking.

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590 m

Natural hiking trail

Highlight (Segment) • Trail

There are great and interesting hiking trails here. Especially in autumn the colors of the leaves are enormous and in combination with the sun 🌞 nature shows its most beautiful …

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4.49 km

Memorial Stone Rudi Maurer (Forester)

Highlight • Monument

A dreamy spot in the valley with rest areas for relaxing, some even with shelter. Here and there along the way, we commemorate the fates of those connected to the …

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7.67 km

View of Wartburg Castle

Highlight • Viewpoint

Even though Wartburg Castle is only visible in the distance. It's only 15 kilometers away. The view is unobstructed across the old military training area.

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8.86 km

Grill and Rest Area with Panoramic View

Highlight • Rest Area

An idyllic rest area, right next to a spacious meadow. From here, there is a fantastic panoramic view across the countryside.

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9.83 km

End point

Parking

Way Types & Surfaces

Way Types

6.02 km

3.67 km

157 m

Surfaces

4.27 km

2.90 km

2.38 km

294 m

Elevation

Nothing selected – click and drag below to see the stats for a specific part of the route.

Highest point (480 m)

Lowest point (350 m)

Weather

Friday 23 October

10°C

6°C

96 %

Additional weather tips

It’s set to rain on your activity. Pack a waterproof jacket.

to get more detailed weather forecasts along your route

Comments

March 11, 2025,Wanderung von gestern umgekehrt mit Freundin

My girlfriend also really wanted to see the snowdrops and so I did the tour again, just the other way around.

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June 8, 2024,Rundweg Weltnaturerbepfad

In beautiful sunshine, in the Hainich UNESCO World Heritage Site.
The circular hiking trail starts at the Craulaer Kreuz, which is an old stone cross.
The well-developed, shady path winds through beech forests. Everything looks very well maintained, there are places to sit every now and then. The whole forest looks like it has fallen into another time. Old and …

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November 13, 2022,Welterbepfad Nationalpark Thüringen

Along with the Carpathians (Ukraine), the national park is one of the largest contiguous deciduous forest areas in Europe and consists mainly of primeval beeches. The hiking trails are great. After the hike you can relax wonderfully on the Alm hainichbaude.de 🍻. It was worth it 😊

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August 30, 2023,Welterbepfad im Nationalpark Hainich

👉 Free to komoot.de/tour/752827906 - from collection komoot.de/collection/1541687

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April 23, 2022,Tour

world heritage trail
A beautiful circular route through the Hainich
In spring you can see a sea of wild garlic here.

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August 12, 2023,Thüringen - Hainich-Urwald auf dem Weltnaturerbepfad genießen

I deliberately scheduled the start of today's tour for the late afternoon.
The weather was announced with a change of clouds ☁️ and sun ☀️ and together with the later dawn 🌅 this should ensure a great mystical atmosphere in the jungle of the Hainich for the entire tour.

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May 30, 2023,Welterbepfad

mdr.de/mdr-thueringen/wanderfuehrer-craula-kreuz-hainich-100.html

nationalpark-hainich.de/de/excursion-targets/hiking-paths/circular-hiking-paths/world-heritage-path.html

Just use the Whit Tuesday and a round of forest bathing in beautiful Hainich.

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May 20, 2024,💚 𝗡𝕒𝕥𝕚𝕠𝕟𝕒𝕝𝕡𝕒𝕣𝕜 𝗛𝕒𝕚𝕟𝕚𝕔𝕙 🌳 🌱✰ᗯᗴᒪTᗴᖇᗷᗴᑭᖴᗩᗪ✰🌿

𝗣𝗳𝗶𝗻𝗴𝘀𝘁𝗺𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗮𝗴 once again hiked the 𝗪𝗲𝗹𝘁𝗻𝗮𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲𝗿𝗯𝗲 - 𝗣𝗳𝗮𝗱 in 𝗡𝕒𝕥𝕚𝕠𝕟𝕒𝕝𝕡𝕒𝕣𝕜 𝗛𝕒𝕚𝕟𝕚𝕔𝕙.
📍Starting point: parking lot 𝗖𝗿𝗮𝘂𝗹𝗮𝗲𝗿 𝗞𝗿𝗲𝘂𝘇
It still smells of wild garlic, but it is no longer blooming here.
Finally, stop off at the Hainichbaude (normally closed on Mondays)

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May 30, 2022

The World Heritage Trail leads through a particularly valuable part of the Hainich National Park. The circular route is marked with the UNESCO diamond and winds through ancient beech forests, which have been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2011.
﻿
On tranquil paths, you'll hike through impressive beech

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