Palatine Watershed
In the southern Palatine Forest, the German part of the Wasgau, the Palatine Watershed begins on the French border in the area of the Erlenkopf hill (473 m above NHN), where it is a continuation of the watershed in the northern Vosges. Always generally running from southwest to northeast it initially heads eastwards past Eppenbrunn and Pirmasens over the Großer Schiffelskopf () and reaches the region of Gräfenstein Land. From there it runs up the Hortenkopf () in the central Frankenweide. Several kilometres it passes through the hamlet of Johanniskreuz (), one of the highest settlements in the Palatine Forest. The watershed then reaches the area west of Waldleiningen in the Lower Frankenweide.
Palatinate Forest
The beech is not only the most abundant tree species in the Palatinate Forest historically, but also today, with a current share of 35 percent. With the exception of the eastern mountain edge (the Haardt range), it is widely distributed on the acidic environment of the bunter sandstone soils and prefers shady slopes, high elevations and hollows. Often it forms varied mixed stands of trees together with softwoods, especially pine, but it is also found as stands in its own right (in so-called woodrush-beech woods), particularly in the central Palatinate Forest. Here it grows in large "beech cathedrals", which are seen by many visitors as an impressive feature of the Palatinate Forest.