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
This is also true for a number of rare birds, including the hoopoe, kingfisher, wheatear, black woodpecker, whinchat and stonechat. Whilst the strictly protected peregrine falcon has been resident in the rock country of the Wasgau for several decades, hazel grouse and capercaillie appear to have died out in the Palatine Forest region. Typical autumn and winter species include the brambling and chaffinch, which overwinter here and occupy the woods in large flocks. They used to be hunted with blowpipes at night during the so-called Böhämmer Hunt ("Böhämmer-Jagd"), until this sport was ended by the 1936 Conservation Act.
The forest is home to a sizeable population of amphibians and reptiles, as well as a host of beetles, butterflies and other insects. A common sight are great anthills, the nests of wood ants, of which there are several species in the region. The Wasgau and the area of the Hermersberger Hof are two of the few places in Germany where colonies of narrow-headed ant have survived. And the highly endangered great and spotted antlions may often be seen in the sands of the bunter sandstone (Rehberg beds). Their larvae build funnel traps in the sand and feed on ants and other animals that fall into it using their pincer-like mandibles.