Where is the Palatine Forest?
Palatinate Forest
The Palatinate Forest (, ), sometimes also called the Palatine Forest, is a low-mountain region in southwestern Germany, located in the Palatinate in the state of Rhineland-Palatinate. The forest is a designated nature park () covering 1,771 km and its highest elevation is the Kalmit (673 m).
Frankenweide
The Frankenweide is a hill region in the German state of Rhineland-Palatinate. It forms the central part of the Palatine Forest in the Palatinate region.
Palatinate Forest
The Palatinate Forest Nature Park was created in 1958 as the third nature park in Germany. In accordance with the requirements of the originator of the nature park concept, Alfred Toepfer, the Palatinate Forest was to be a place of recreation and exercise for the stressed office workers of the cities in the Rhine valley which were then suffering badly from air pollution. The nature park expansion programme envisaged 95 car parks, 13 camp sites, seven observation towers and five open-air pools.
Palatine, Illinois
The Palatine Park District serves 85,000 residents within the Palatine, Rolling Meadows, Arlington Heights, Inverness, Hoffman Estates and Barrington communities. It is governed by five elected park commissioners who oversee a professional staff.
Weißenberg (Frankenweide)
The Weißenberg lies in the central Palatine Forest in the Palatine Forest Nature Park. It rises about 6.5 kilometres east-northeast of Merzalben and eight kilometres north of Hauenstein near the Wilgartswiesen hamlet of Hermersbergerhof. It does not have a single peak, but a saddle-shaped summit running in a north-south direction. The southern peak is high, and the northern peak, 280 metres away, is high.
Holzland (Palatinate)
The main transport axes are the B 270 federal highway from Pirmasens to Kaiserslautern, which runs through the Moosalb valley from south to north, and the parallel railway line. In the extreme southwest the Holzland reaches Pirmasens Nord station, where the railway line crosses the Queich Valley Railway from Landau to Saarbrücken.The Holzland communities are trying to regain a share of tourism in the Palatine Forest. The Friends of Nature and the Palatine Forest Club maintain several mountain huts. There are campsites by the Clausensee lake, at Hundsweiher and in the Schwarzbach valley.
Palatinate Forest
Berwartstein Castle, near Erlenbach in the southern part of the Palatinate Forest, once belonged to the knight, Hans von Trotha, known in local legends as "Hans Trapp", and is the only castle in the Palatinate that is still occupied. The castle has been rebuilt and is open to visitors. Of many other castles, like Wegelnburg, only ruins are left. Other rock castles include Drachenfels near Busenberg, which partly belonged to rebel knight, Francis of Sickingen, Falkenburg and the Wilgartaburg near Wilgartswiesen.
Betzenberg
The Betzenberg lies south of Kaiserslautern Central Station and the main railway axis from Ludwigshafen to Saarbrücken. The southern end of the Betzenberg transitions into the Palatine Forest.
Kesselberg (Haardt)
The Kesselberg near Edenkoben in the German state of Rhineland-Palatinate (Südliche Weinstraße county) is a mountain, , It iis second highest peak in the Palatine Forest region after the Kalmit () and also the third highest mountain in the Palatinate region (highest: Donnersberg ).
List of mountains and hills of the Palatine Forest
The mountain range is formed from a slab of Bunter sandstone, about 500 metres thick, that is characterized by a complex relief with deeply incised V-shaped valleys, many different hill shapes and dense forests. Because its rock strata were tilted during the formation of the Upper Rhine Graben and descend from east to west, its highest points, which climb to over , are found in the Haardt, a long ridge that forms the edge of the Palatine Forest in the east above the Rhine Plain. In the central Palatine Forest is the plateau of Frankenweide, in which several more mountains are located that also exceed the 600 metre mark. By contrast, the hills in the north of the Palatine Forest, i. e. in the Stumpfwald and Otterberg Forest, only reach about 350 to ; they are largely embedded in erosion surfaces and rise only around 100 to 150 metres above them. Considerably more varied are the hills of the southern Palatine Forest, a region also known as the Wasgau which, as a unified natural region, crosses the border and runs as far as the Col de Saverne. Its small-scale surface topology includes numerous, different hill shapes – characterized by conical hills for example – with heights range from 450 to . They often exhibit bizarre rock formations, that in many cases have been used for the construction and location of rock and hill castles.
Weißenberg (Frankenweide)
The nearest peaks that are higher than the Weißenberg are the Roßberg () and the Steigerkopf () mountains; they are 15 kilometres away as the crow flies in the Haardt on the eastern edge of the Palatine Forest. Thus the Weißenberg has a relatively high isolation. In addition, the Weißenberg is not an isolated individual summit, but part of an elongated ridge that runs through the interior of the Palatine Forest in various directions and is a key feature of its relief.
Holzland (Palatinate)
Holzland is the name of a region in the western part of the Palatine Forest in the German state of Rhineland-Palatinate
Holzland (disambiguation)
Holzland (Palatinate) is a region in the Palatine Forest, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany.
Palatinate Forest
Although the Palatinate Forest is still sparsely populated and has many unspoilt regions, it still has a rich, regional, historical and cultural heritage, that is reflected in a great number of sights of which only a small selection can be covered here.
Upper Palatine Forest
The Mittelgebirge range is a mountainous solid mass, its highest point being at an altitude of . Prominent rocks include the Wolfenstein and the Parkstein hill. Once a mining area for iron and gold, the uplands feature many steep valleys, medieval castle ruins and numerous hiking trails. It is a popular destination for recreation.
Palatinate Forest
By contrast, spruce, Douglas fir, larch, and Weymouth pine are not native to the forested mountain range. Spruce prefer cool, shady locations and are therefore often found in valleys, hollows and on the lower slopes of hills, while the Douglas fir is found in widely differing locations due to its high adaptability. The sweet chestnut was not originally an indigenous tree species, but was naturalized by the Romans in the area of the present-day Palatinate. Since it prefers a mild climate (see temperature) like the grape vine it is found on the eastern edge of the Palatinate Forest, the Haardt, in pure or nearly monocultures and represents about 4 percent of the forest area there.
Palatinate Forest
The large mixed forests of the mountain range with their various plant communities form an ecological framework in which a large and varied range of animals was able to develop. Particularly striking are the larger mammals which, as in other mountainous regions, are represented by cloven-hoofed animals like the roe deer, red deer and wild boar. Fox, badger, polecat, weasel and threatened mammal species such as bats, pine marten, wildcat and lynx are also found in the Palatinate Forest.
Palatine Watershed
In the southern and central Palatine Forest the effect of the Palatine Watershed is especially clear. There it separates the catchment areas of its four major drainage systems into an eastern and a western region: The Lauter, referred to in its upper reaches as the "Wieslauter", the Queich and the Speyerbach flow eastwards, directly into the Upper Rhine; the Schwarzbach collects the water from the western Palatine Forest and sends it via the Blies, Saar and Moselle rivers to the Middle Rhine.
Diemerstein Forest
Diemerstein Forest () is a part of the Palatine Forest, a mountainous region within the German state of Rhineland-Palatinate. It has an area of about 50 km².
List of mountains and hills of the Palatine Forest
List of mountains and hills of Rhineland-Palatinate
Palatinate Forest
After the Frankish conquests in the Early Middle Ages (7th to 10th century) took them to the edges of today's Palatinate Forest, there was increasing population pressure in the Middle Ages (10th to 13th century), especially through the initiatives of the nobility and the church, e.g. through the establishment of monasteries such as the Cistercian abbeys of Otterberg (1144) and Eußerthal (1148), the colonization and development of the mountains. Areas that could be used for agriculture were cleared and settled permanently. This development reached its peak in the region during the era of the Salian (10th-12th centuries) and Hohenstaufen (12th and 13th century) emperors, with the construction of Trifels Castle and other castles in the surrounding area that, for a time, made it the centre of power of the empire.
Schaudichnichtum Lodge
Schaudichnichtum Lodge (() was a former hunting lodge southwest of the town of Bad Dürkheim in the German state of Rhineland-Palatinate. Like its near neighbours, Kehrdichannichts, Murrmirnichtviel and Jägerthal, it was used as accommodation for the nobility of the Electoral Palatinate during the 18th century when they went hunting in the Palatine Forest.
Wetterkreuzberg
The Wetterkreuzberg () is a hill in the Haardt range on the eastern edge of the Palatine Forest in the German state of Rhineland-Palatinate.
Luitpold Tower
The tower stands on the territory of the municipality of Merzalben in the middle of the Palatine Forest at the highest point of the Weißenberg (610 m above sea level (NN)). The tower is 1.4 kilometres from Hermersbergerhof and may be reached on foot in 10 to 20 minutes. In good weather 457 named places can be identified: in the Palatinate, in the state of Baden-Württemberg, in French Alsace and the Saarland, and the viewing platform has 12 direction tables that enable easy orientation. In good conditions, for example, the following may be seen: the Donnersberg (highest peak in the Palatinate region, 42 km distant, visibility ca. 42%), the Kalmit (highest mountain in the Palatine Forest, 20 km, visibility ca. 82%,), the Donon (highest mountain of the northern Vosges, 96 km, visibility ca. 8%) and the Hornisgrinde (highest mountain in the northern Black Forest, 77 km, visibility ca. 14%).
Palatinate Forest
In the species-poor oak, beech and pine woods the ground flora mainly consists of acid-soil loving (acidophilic) species. Examples are great wood-rush, white wood-rush, pill sedge and wavy hair-grass. Also characteristic are various species of fern such as deer fern, lemon-scented fern and royal fern, which prefer shady, temperate, wet locations. Another feature of the bunter sandstone mountains are its rich mushroom and berry communities. Blueberries cover large areas and, in suitable places, cowberries.
Birkenhördt
Birkenhördt lies in the Wasgau, which is composed of the southern part of the Palatine Forest and the northern part of the Vosges Mountains.
Palatinate Forest
Only a small selection can be mentioned here of the many museums with a direct link to the Palatine Forest that may be found in the Palatinate alone (see detailed coverage by the Rhineland-Palatinate Museum Association, "Museumsverband Rheinland-Pfalz").
Walking routes in the Palatine Forest
Red dot: the path from Hertlingshausen (Carlsberg) along the Haardt to the French border runs via Kieskautberg and Rahnfels to Bad Dürkheim, then from Wachenheim via the Heidenlöcher to Deidesheim, and through the Mühltal valley up to the Stabenberg. From there through the Benjental and over the Weinbiet (Palatine Forest Club or PWV hut) past the ruins of Wolfsburg Castle to Neustadt an der Weinstraße. From the central station the path runs over the Nollen Saddle up to the Hohe Loog and then on to the Kalmit (673 m), past the ruins of Kropsburg to the Palatine Forest Club hut of "Hüttenbrunnen". The route then runs past the ruinos of Rietburg, via Weyher, through the Modenbach valley, to "Drei Buchen" and Ramberg. Passing the ruins of Ramburg, the Palatine Forest Club huts - the "Böchinger Hut" and "Siebeldinger Hut" - the path climbs the Almersberg, and drops again into the Wellbach valley to Rinnthal. Via the "Buchholzfelsen" and Spirkelbach it continues to Hauenstein, past the "Kreuzfelsen" rocks to the PWV's hut Wasgau Hut. Finally the "red dot" trail runs via Darstein, the "Lindelbrunn" Hut, Lauterschwan, the "Hirzeck" Hut, to Bobenthal and then through the Klaffental valley to the border crossing of Kehlingen (Petit Wingen).
White dot: this waymark is found where link paths have been established between the main routes and walking trails. It is possible to switch to another route. These signs are, however, rather uncommon.
Palatine Ways of St. James
Later, a southern route was also recorded. This branch runs through the southern Palatine Forest, the German part of the Wasgau. The Way runs initially from Speyer towards the south gradually ascending the Rhine valley as far as its confluence with the Klingbach in an old loop in the Rhine that, since the straightening of the Rhine, has been called the Michelsbach. The route then follows the Klingbach westwards through the South Palatinate part of the Rhine Plain.
Palatine Forest Club
The first branch was founded on 27 November 1902 in Ludwigshafen. Its first chairman was the industrialist, Anton Fasig. After other branches had formed the following year, the umbrella organization was founded in 1903. One of the founding members of the Palatine Forest Club, formed at the initiative of Ludwigshafen railway official, Otto Link, was the Palatine artist, Heinrich Strieffler. Karl Albrecht von Ritter was elected by the founding members as the managing director (Regierungsdirektor). Since 1908 the club has commemorated places of historical or natural significance by erecting and maintained a total of 306 so-called Ritter Stones ("Rittersteine") - sandstone boulders with engraved inscriptions.
Palatinate Forest Nature Park
The Palatinate Forest Nature Park () lies in the south of Rhineland-Palatinate in Germany and borders on France. The nature park covers an area of and some 76% of its area is under the woods of the Palatinate Forest, the largest contiguous forest region in Germany. Together with a part of northern Alsace it forms the Palatinate Forest-North Vosges Biosphere Reserve and has an impressive Bunter sandstone landscape.
Walking routes in the Palatine Forest
These two trails run from Saarbrücken through the Palatine Forest to the River Rhine near Wörth.
The green bar footpath in the Palatine Forest runs from Zweibrücken-Niederauerbach via Contwig, Walshausen, and Bottenbach to Kröppen. From there it goes via Eppenbrunn and Ludwigswinkel, Petersbächel and Schönau to Nothweiler, before finally passing through Bobenthal heading for Sankt Germanshof on the French border. The route continues further via Schweigen-Rechtenbach towards Bienwald.
The path waymarked by a black dot on a white bar runs from Saarbrücken (Schafbrücke) through the Palatine Forest into the Anterior Palatinate as far as Rülzheim. Its course through the Forest goes from Landstuhl, via the Gelterswoog and Kaiserslautern, continuing on the historic mountain road past Hochspeyer to Frankenstein, through the Jägertal valley to Bad Dürkheim, before heading along the Haardt to Bad Bergzabern, and then finally east via the Bienwald to Rülzheim.
Palatine, Illinois
Palatine () is a village in Cook County, Illinois, United States. It is a northwestern residential suburb of Chicago. As of the 2000 census, the village had a total population of 65,479. In the 2010 census its population had risen to 68,557, making it the seventh-largest community in Cook County and the 18th-largest in the state of Illinois.
Palatinate Forest
Since the beginning of the last century, the Palatine Forest has developed into a very popular walking region, thanks to its natural landscape attractions, its cultural heritage and good infrastructure, primarily created by the Palatine Forest Club. It offers over 100 managed walking huts and similar facilities run by volunteers of the Palatine Forest Club and the Friends of Nature. The walking support centres are often only accessible on foot and mainly open at weekends.
Dahner Felsenland
The Dahner Felsenland, also referred to as the Dahn Rockland, is a landscape in the county of Südwestpfalz in the German federal state of Rhineland-Palatinate. It is located in the middle section of the Wasgau, which in turn forms the southern part of the Palatine Forest and the northern part of the Vosges in France. The Dahner Felsenland has numerous rock formations within the South Palatinate Climbing Area ("Klettergebiet Südpfalz").
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.
Walking routes in the Palatine Forest
Green and red bars: the path from Kaiserslautern into Leininger Land heads initially eastwards past Hochspeyer and through Fischbach to Frankenstein, then turns north via Hertlingshausen, past Altleiningen and Altleiningen Castle as far as Kleinkarlbach, below Neuleiningen Castle.
Blue and red bars: the footpath starts in Kirchheimbolanden and runs via Elmstein, Iggelbach, Hofstätten, Hermersberger Hof and Hinterweidenthal toPirmasens.
Yellow and red bars: One of these waymarked paths is unusual in that it does not begin (or end, depending on your viewpoint) in a settlement, but on the B 48 federal road in Wellbachtal. Its route takes it through Wilgartswiesen, Hauenstein, Dahn, Schindhard, past the ruins of Lindelbrunn Castle, through Silz and the ruins of Landeck, out of the Palatine Forest into the Anterior Palatinate to Rülzheim.
Yellow and red bars: the other route with this waymarking begins at Lichtenberg Castle, heading for Wallhalben. It then runs via Thaleischweiler-Fröschen, Burgalben, along the valley of Schwarzbachtal, over the Eschkopf, through Elmstein, Esthal and Mainzertal (on the B 39 federal road), and past the Drachenfels before finishing in Wachenheim.
Red and white bars: beginning in Niederwürzbach the route passed through Erfweiler, Hauenstein, Hermersberger Hof, Eußerthal, Dernbach and Gleisweiler before ending in Böchingen.
Yellow bar: the walk begins near Blieskastel and runs through Contwig, Leimen (Pfalz), Hofstätten, Taubensuhl (Landau Municipal Forest), Eußerthal and Annweiler before reaching Germersheim am Rhein.
Yellow bar: the second path with this waymark in the Palatine Forest is part of the Pirmasens-Belfort long distance path and is located further south in the Palatine Forest. Its westernmost point is the town of Pirmasens. It then heads for Dahn, Busenberg, Erlenbach (near Dahn), Birkenhördt, Bad Bergzabern, Schweigen-Rechtenbach, Weißenburg/Wissembourg (F) and ends in Belfort.
Yellow bar: the third path with this waymarking runs from Glanbrücken to Eiswoog, Frankenstein, Friedrichsbrunnen, Lambertskreuz and Wachenheim.
Red bar: another sign used on several paths. For the first one, see above in the section on international long distance paths. The second one is a very short trail starting at Lambertskreuz, then running via Neidenfels, Lambrecht and Hellerplatz to Breitenstein.
Red bar: the third route begins in Neuleiningen, crosses Bad Dürkheim and Wachenheim, continues along the edge of the Haardt to Neustadt an der Weinstraße, St. Martin, Frankweiler and Siebeldingen.
Blue bar: branching off the above long distance path with this marking, it is a short stretch from "Drei Buchen" ("Three Beeches") to Burrweiler an der Weinstraße.
Palatine, Illinois
Palatine's first suburb-style subdivision was called Palanois Park, built shortly after World War II. The town has experienced rapid growth since the 1970s, part of Chicago's growing suburban sprawl. Palatine was home to the Cook County Fair from 1914 to 1931. The fairgrounds are now a subdivision with a name that pays tribute to Palatine's former fairgrounds.
Stumpfwald
The Stumpfwald is part of the northern Palatine Forest and is located in the south of the German state of Rhineland-Palatinate. It covers an area of about 150 km², most of which is part of North Palatinate and runs from west to east on the territories of Enkenbach-Alsenborn (county of Kaiserslautern) and Ramsen (county of Donnersbergkreis). It has given its name to the "Stumpfwaldgericht", an old thingstead, and the heritage line of the Stumpfwald Railway.
Palatine Ridgeway
The Palatine Ridgeway () in the North Palatine Uplands of Germany is 112 kilometres long and has seven recommended day stages. It is the third longest "Prädikat" path in the Palatinate region after the Palatine Wine Trail and Palatine Forest Trail. The long distance path was opened in autumn 2010. One year later, in September 2011, it was given its status as a "Prädikat" path.
Čerchov
At , the Čerchov (German: "Schwarzkopf") is the highest mountain in the Upper Palatine Forest (Český les) and the northern summit of the Bohemian Forest. It lies ca. 2 km from the German-Czech border, roughly in the middle of a triangle formed by the villages of Waldmünchen, Furth im Wald and Domažlice.
Palatinate Forest
The Palatine Museum of Natural History ("Pfalzmuseum für Naturkunde") or POLLICHIA Museum in Bad Dürkheim, has various permanent exhibitions and collections on the subjects of geology, flora and fauna of the Palatinate (e. g. animals of the forest, local mushrooms, minerals etc.) and other special conservation themes, with ecological considerations as a priority. In this connexion the visitor is also introduced to the Palatinate Forest-North Vosges Biosphere Reserve in a comprehensive permanent exhibition with vivid displays of the particular features of these bunter sandstone mountains.
Drachenfels (Central Palatinate Forest)
Due to its central location Drachenfels accessible from all sides, albeit only on foot because the area is protected. Mountain bikes or other wheeled vehicles are not allowed. The ascent is very steep and runs over woodland tracks and paths that are unsurfaced in places. The nearest hiker's car park, "Forsthaus Saupferch", where there is a trail map erected by the Palatine Forest Club, may be reached from the north – from the B 37 Kaiserslautern to Bad Dürkheim road – over a roughly 2 kilometre-long, metalled road.
Palatinate Forest
The Max Slevogt Art Gallery in Villa Ludwigshöhe contains, "inter alia", paintings by Impressionist masters that reflect the rich colours of the southern Palatinate countryside, which may be experienced, for example, at Slevogthof Neukastel above Leinsweiler. A particularly good overview of the rocks and rock castles of Palatine and Alsace Wasgau is conveyed by the "impressions" of artist, Emil Knöringer, who seeks to emphasise the richness of the red sandstone landscapes through the medium of art.
Walking routes in the Palatine Forest
This section lists the walking routes of the Palatine Forest region.
Palatinate Forest
The eastern end of the forest ("Haardt") is adjacent to the Palatinate wine growing region. Here the German Wine Route stretches through the undulating area that lies between the Palatinate Forest and the Upper Rhine valley.
Palatinate Forest
Well known examples include the Palatine St. James Way (waymark: scallop on blue field), the Pirmasens – Belfort long distance path (waymark: yellow bar) or the Franconia-Hesse-Palatinate ("Franken – Hessen – Kurpfalz") long distance path (waymark: red cross). These main walking routes are complemented by a multitude of regional footpaths of varying length (both linear and circular trails), which include themed walks (e. g. forest educational trails), rock trails (e. g. the "Rodalber Felsenweg"), river and lakeside trails (e. g. the "Brunnenweg" near Heltersberg etc.) and the so-called "premium" or "predicate" trails initiated by the Palatine Tourist Board (e. g. "Pfälzer Waldsteig" or "Felsenland Sagenweg" etc.). Cross-border hikes are also easily possible in the bunter sandstone hills, because the Palatine Forest Club and its French counterpart the Vosges Club (French: "Club Vosgien") have developed almost identical waymarking systems since their foundation over 100 years (e. g. dots, bars, crosses and diamonds of different colours) and in the border region have developed a dense common network of footpaths. In doing so, both clubs have been careful to ensure that, where possible, the routes do not follow "forest motorways" but use narrow footpaths and mountain paths.
Palatinate Forest
On 20 July 1982 the Palatinate Forest Nature Park Association ("Verein Naturpark Pfälzerwald") was founded as a support organization. The members of the association are those counties and independent towns whose territories are covered by the nature park as well as the Palatinate regional association, various rambling and sports clubs and environmental organizations. Many social organisations are involved in the work of the nature park, ensuring the independence of academic and regional individual interests. The association's goal is to develop the nature park and its eponymous biosphere reserve equally and to maintain its uniqueness and beauty as well as its national recreational value. Since 1997, the head office of the association has been in Lambrecht.
Heiligenberg Tunnel
The tunnel is located in the northwest of the Palatine Forest ("Pfälzerwald"). It is located mainly on the urban area of Kaiserslautern; the smaller, eastern part is in Hochspeyer. The tunnel passes through the Heiligenberg mountain without a curve.
Palatine, Illinois
The first European-American to settle in Palatine is generally thought to be George Ela, who built a log cabin in the area now called Deer Grove. Ela was one of the first of a wave of pioneers to migrate to northern Illinois following the Black Hawk War. A road which passes through the western edge of Palatine is called Ela Road in his honor.
The Village of Palatine was founded in 1866. It was built around a station on the new Chicago and North Western Railway. Joel Wood surveyed and laid out the village, earning him the title of Palatine's founder. One of Palatine's original downtown streets is named after Wood.
Palatinate Forest
The Palatinate Forest can be divided into three areas.The Palatinate Forest is a major (3rd level) natural region within the Palatine-Saarland Scarplands (a 2nd order major region) and runs south as far as the Col de Saverne, i.e. far into French territory, where it continues as the Vosges ridge. This often goes unrecognized as a result of the French border; hence the French southern part of the natural region is often, wrongly, counted as part of the North Vosges.
Palatinate Forest
The mountain range is criss-crossed by a dense network of signed trails, over 12,000 kilometres in overall length, most of which were established by volunteers of the Palatine Forest Club, who continue to maintain them. These include several important international and national long distance paths that link the forest to the European and national networks of long distance trails.
Wachenheim
Wachenheim fosters partnerships with the following places:The "Kurpfalz-Park" (“Electoral Palatinate Park”), lying in the Palatinate Forest on the "Rotsteig", houses many kinds of animals, some of which are displayed in game reserves. Besides this there is the only summertime toboggan run in the Palatinate, along with other sources of entertainment, among which are a bird of prey show, a Kasperle theatre, a "Kurpfalz-Express" and many others.
Frankenweide
The plateau with its extensive forests is a destination for hikers. All Palatinate Forest Club long distance paths marked with a cross and that radiate across the entire Palatinate, meet at Johanniskreuz in the heart of the Frankenweide. There are viewing towers on the Weißenberg and the Eschkopf. For mountain bikers there are courses at the Palatine Forest Mountain Bike Park and in the neighbouring region of Holzland.
Johanniskreuz, with its House of Sustainability and a few other houses, mainly hotels and restaurants, is the touristic centre of the Frankenweide. The Palatine Catholics Day and woodland services take place here and, on Sundays, especially in good weather, hundreds of bikers meet here. On the Hermersbergerhof, whose six-kilometre-long approach road between Wilgartswiesen and Hauenstein branches off the B 10 abzweigt and then continues as a narrow lane for ten kilometres to the "Landstraße" from Leimen to Johanniskreuz, is used for winter sports in good snow conditions; but due to the increasingly mild winters the skilift was dismantled in the 1990s. A toboggan run still exists, however.
Kaiserslautern (district)
The district includes parts of the Palatinate Forest ("Pfälzer Wald") in the east and the North Palatine Hills ("Nordpfälzer Bergland") in the west, as well as the lowlands between them.
Rahnfels
The Rahnfels is a hill in the Palatine Forest in Germany, about 2 kilometres northwest of the ruins of Hardenburg castle. With a summit height of the Rahnfels is the highest point in the Palatine Forest north of the River Isenach.
Palatine Forest Club
The Palatine Forest Club () is a hiking club in the former Bavarian Palatinate, i.e. the southern part of the German state of Rhineland-Palatinate and the Saarland county of Saarpfalz-Kreis. In 2011 it had 221 local branches with around 27,000 members.
Palatine Northern Railway
The Northern Railway runs through vineyards and open country near the eastern edge of the Palatinate Forest. Starting at Neustadt Hauptbahnhof, it runs to Neustadt-Böbig station parallel to the Palatine Ludwig Railway, later turning to the left towards the north. After passing the Neustadt suburb of Mußbach and the small towns of Deidesheim and Wachenheim, the Northern Railway reaches the Bad Dürkheim terminual station.
Palatinate Forest
Other ancient forest-like cells of natural woodland may be found in the source region of the (Wies)-Lauter below the Weißenberg in one of the core zones of the biosphere reserve as well as the border area between Eppenbrunn, Stürzelbronn, Fischbach and Obersteinbach.
Palatinate (wine region)
The Palatinate wine region overlaps with, but is not coextensive with, the traditional German region of Palatinate, making up only 5% of its area. The wine region is an 80-km stretch situated under the lee of the Palatinate Forest on the Haardt Mountains, a continuation of Alsace's Vosges Mountains. Its climate is much like that of Alsace (France) in the south or Baden (Germany) in the east; and it is one of the warmest, sunniest and driest of German wine regions, with only parts of Baden (the only Zone B region in Germany), such as the Kaiserstuhl, being warmer. The vineyards are planted on a mixture of sandstone and volcanic soil.
Palatinate Forest
The conditions described above have also led to the formation of a great number of wetlands, that are frequently linked to spring horizons and into which groundwater reaches the surface again. As a result, bogs, bog lakes and other small lakes, the so-called "woogs" are typical of the Palatine Forest, albeit the majority of "woogs" do not have a natural origin. They were more often artificially laid out by the impoundment of streams and were used as stages and reservoirs for timber rafting. However, the area covered by all the lakes and "woogs" in the Palatine Forest is not significant. The best known are the Gelterswoog on the northwestern edge, the Clausensee in the southwest and the Eiswoog in the northeast.
Palatinate Forest
Here, in a single, contiguous ridge is a series of peaks exceeding the 600 metre mark, of which the Great Kalmit, at , is also the highest point of the entire Palatinate Forest. The ridge begins at the Steigerkopf (also called the "Schänzel") (about 500 m) and heads westwards to the Frankenweide region around the Eschkopf () and Weißenberg (). This massif extends from the town of Hochspeyer via Johanniskreuz to Hauenstein. Its central area between Johanniskreuz and Hermersbergerhof rather resembles a plateau bounded by deeply incised valleys. This plateau also runs towards the west at a height of about 500 m before descending gradually to 400 m. It is bisected by the Schwarzbach and Moosalb rivers. To the southwest other ridges separate the valleys of the Merzalbe and the headstreams of the Wieslauter. It is therefore possible to walk from Neustadt an der Weinstraße to Leimen or Kaiserslautern-Mölschbach without dropping below the 450 metre contour line.
Palatine High School
Palatine High School, or PHS, is a public four-year high school in Township High School District 211. Located at 1111 N. Rohlwing Road in Palatine, Illinois, United States, a northwest suburb of Chicago, it serves primarily all of and only those areas of Palatine northeast of the UP NW tracks, but also serves a small portion of Arlington Heights and Barrington. In addition, PHS is a magnet school for the entire district's special education program. Feeder schools include Winston Campus Junior High and Sundling Junior High. Elementary schools in the attendance area include; Winston Campus, Lake Louise, Jane Addams, Virginia Lake, Lincoln, Sanborn and Paddock.
Palatinate Forest
The History Museum of the Palatinate ("Historisches Museum der Pfalz") in Speyer, because of its broader scope, does not cover the region of today's Palatinate Forest as a separate exhibition topic; nevertheless the specific Palatine focus of the museum means almost inevitably that there are historical links through which the political and socio-historic changes of the mountain region are illustrated time and again. Examples are the Salian exhibition of 2011 (Trifels was the centre of the Salian Empire), the wine museum with its cultural history of wine and the family-friendly, hands-on exhibition of Drachenfels Castle, in which life on a medieval rock fortress in Wasgau can be relived.
Battle of Fort Bull
After the destruction of Fort Bull and the fall of Fort Oswego, the westernmost frontier of the British Empire in North America was now Fort Herkimer and the German Flatts settlement (modern Herkimer, New York) inhabited by settlers from the Palatine region of the Holy Roman Empire and other states on the Middle Rhineland in what is now modern Germany. As the largest contingent of the German settlers came from the Electorate of the Palatine, they were popularly called the Palatines, regardless if they came from the Palatine or not. To reinforce the threatened frontier, several British Army were rushed up, much to the annoyance of the Palatine settlers who complained to the Oneida Indians that the presence of British troops was likely to bring fresh French attacks and hence fighting that might devastate their settlements. Unlike the frontier in Pennsylvania and in the Ohio river valley, where white settlers and the Indians had bloodstained relations, leading to hundreds of murders, relations between whites and Indians in Kanienkeh were friendly; between 1756-1774 only 5 whites were killed by the Indians while 6 Indians were killed by the British Army or settlers. The Palatine settlers sent messages to Vaudreuil via the Oneida, proclaiming their wish to be neutral in the Seven Years' War, saying that they cared neither for the British nor the French, and only wished to live in peace. An Oneida Indian passed on a message to Vaudreuil in Quebec City, saying: "We inform you of a message given to us by a Nation that is neither English, nor French nor Indian and inhabitants the lands around us...That Nation has proposed to annex us to to ["sic"] itself in order to afford each other mutual help and protection against the English". Vaundreuil in reply stated "I think I know that nation. There is reason to believe they are the Palatines". Vaudreuil went on to say that neutrality was not an option for anyone in this war, and if the Palatine settlers wanted peace, they should submit to the King of France at once. On 12 November 1757, the principle Palatine settlement, German Flatts, was destroyed in a night attack by 200 Mississauga and Canadian Iroquois Indians plus 63 "troupes de la Marine" and New France militiamen, which marked the end of the Palatine effort at neutrality in the Seven Years' War.
Großer Eyberg
The Großer Eyberg is a hill in the southern Palatine Forest in Germany. It lies in the county of Südwestpfalz in the borough of Dahn in an area known as the Dahner Felsenland, a part of the Wasgau, a region which comprises the southern part of the Palatine Forest and the northern part of the Vosges Mountains. It is the highest hill in the western Wasgau.
Ungeheuersee
The Ungeheuersee in the Palatinate Forest of Germany is a raised bog pond surrounded by mixed forest, which is located about three kilometres west-southwest of the village of Weisenheim am Berg. Because the lake is part of the only raised bog in the Palatinate Forest and is important for the species-rich flora along its shore and on its floating island (including cotton grasses and orchids), it was placed under protection in the 1930s as a natural monument.
Roßberg (Haardt)
The Roßberg lies in the Haardt, the eastern mountain range of the Palatine Forest in the Palatine Forest Nature Park. Its summit rises 1.5 km east of the municipality of Ramberg on the territory of the village of Burrweiler, 3.7 km to the southeast. The Ziegelbach stream, a right tributary of the Modenbach, rises on the eastern side of the mountain.
Palatinate Forest
West of Kaiserslautern is the marshy lowland of Landstuhl.
Holpertal
The Holpertal lies in the eastern part of the Palatine Forest a few kilometres from the edge of the Haardt and, together with the Nonnental, forms the northern head of the Ramberg valley.
Eckkopf
The Eckkopf is a 516 metre-high hill in the Palatine Forest in the Germany state of Rhineland-Palatinate. It lies about 3 km west of the small Palatine town of Deidesheim in the Haardt, as the eastern edge of the Palatine Forest is called. It has a 25 metre high observation tower called the Eckkopf Tower ("Eckkopfturm").
Palatinate Forest
In the northeastern part of the range the following destinations are worth mentioning: the Eckkopf Tower (near Deidesheim), Bismarck Tower (near Bad Dürkheim) and the observation tower on the Weinbiet. The visitor has a good all-round view, especially to the north and east that reaches as far as the Odenwald.
In the central and southern part of the range, examples of good viewing towers include the Schänzel on the Steigerkopf, the Rehberg and its tower near Annweiler and the Stäffelsberg Tower near Dörrenbach. The summit pyramid of the Rehberg is especially well known for its panoramic views (see the image in the section above). Representative of the central Palatine Forest are the tower on the Schindhübel near Iggelbach, the one on the Eschkopf and especially the Luitpold Tower near Hermersbergerhof, which offers the most extensive panoramic view of the Palatine Forest by far. According to precise geometric research by Lang over 350 hill and mountain tops may be seen from this point.
Palatinate Forest
In the Permian geological period (about 296-251 million years ago) the first sandstone formations, some 100 metres thick, were deposited in the area of today's Palatinate Forest; in particular, the rock units of the Rotliegendes and the Zechstein (about 256-251 million years ago) are important. At the beginning of the Germanic Triassic, i.e. from the Lower to the beginning of the Middle Triassic, there was (about 251-243 million years ago) a desert-like climate, so that as a result of further depositions of sand, rock layers of up to 500 metres thickness were formed. This led "inter alia", through the addition of iron oxide, to a variable colouration of the rock strata - hence the name "bunter" sandstone ("bunter" being German for "coloured") - and, depending on the type and binding of the material, (clay-bound sandstone as opposed to silicified quartz sandstone) to the formation of rock layers of different hardness. This resulted in the subgroups of lower, middle and upper bunter sandstone. These bunter sandstone formations were buried by various types of sediments in the adjacent sections of muschelkalk (243-235 million years ago) and keuper (234-200 million years ago), and also during the Jurassic (200-142 million years ago) and Cretaceous (142-66 million years ago).
Upper Palatine Forest
The German side belongs to the Upper Palatinate region of Bavaria, it stretches about from the Bavarian Forest in the south up to the Fichtel Mountains and the Steinwald range in the north. However, the highest peaks of the range lie along the eastern Czech side in the Plzeň Region of western Bohemia, northwest of the Bohemian Forest. The southern rim runs from the Cham and Furth Basin across the border to the Všeruby ("Neumark") mountain pass, which is part of the Main European Watershed. The other end is marked by Waldsassen, the northernmost town of the Upper Palatinate.
Palatinate Forest
The Karlstal valley, through which run the upper reaches of the Moosalb river near the town of Trippstadt, stands out as a result of its natural, virgin scenery. The Trippstadt village of Johanniskreuz is the centre point of the Palatine Forest and used to be a spa. The 200‑ to 300‑year‑old oak and beech mixed woods, which surround the little hamlet and give it an autochthonous character, are renowned (see Flora). They have long been managed sustainably, following sustainability principles and are especially well known for their valuable stands of furniture-quality oak. It is therefore not surprising that the House of Sustainability was established
in Johanniskreuz in 2005 (viz. Information centres/Museums)
Palatinate Forest
The Palatinate Forest has a large number of castles and stately houses. Worthy of mention is the imperial castle of Trifels near Annweiler, where, at the end of the 12th century, the English king, Richard the Lionheart, was held prisoner; in the wake of which the Blondel legend arose. 
Today it is where replicas of the Imperial Regalia ("Reichskleinodien") of the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation can be viewed, and is one of the most popular tourist destinations in the Palatinate.
Kalmit
Since 2012 there has been a special facility on the Kalmit for measuring visibility; its task is to record visibility in the Palatine Forest-North Vosges Biosphere Reserve. Whilst at many, unmanned, weather stations, visibility measurements are made automatically for the range 0 to 10 km which is relevant to traffic safety, the measurement station on the Kalmit is designed for the range 10 to 390 km, which is relevant in assessing the fine dust content of the air. Measurements and survey photographs are obtainable through the "Fern-Sehen Project" ("Projekt Fern-Sehen") in the Palatine Forest, which is managed by the House of Sustainability in Johanniskreuz, a department of the Rhineland-Palatinate State Forestry Commission. Another feature is that the values were introduced to alert nature lovers, because exceptional visibility is very rare and difficult to forecast.
Drachenfels (Central Palatinate Forest)
Other tourist destinations in the area of the Drachenfels include the "Siegfriedsbrunnen" spring, the unoccupied forester's lodge of Kehrdichannichts, the ruins of the Murrmirnichtviel and Schaudichnichtum forester's lodges, the Lambertskreuz cross, first recorded in 1280 and the oldest wayside cross in the Palatinate region, the managed "Lambertskreuz Hut", the "Saupferch" forest inn and the leisure and wildlife park of, the Kurpfalz Park.
Palatinate Forest
In 2005, the Palatine Forest Mountain Bike Park, a route network for mountainbiking, was developed in the centre of the region.
Palatine Hill
The Palatine Hill (; ; ) is the centremost of the Seven Hills of Rome and is one of the most ancient parts of the city. It stands 40 metres above the Roman Forum, looking down upon it on one side, and upon the Circus Maximus on the other. From the time of Augustus Imperial palaces were built here.
Guttenberg Castle (Palatinate)
Guttenberg Castle (, more rarely, "Guttenburg") is a ruined rock castle near the French border in the German part of the Wasgau, which in turn is part of the Palatine Forest in the state of Rhineland-Palatinate.
Palatinate Forest
At the end of the last ice age, about 10,000 years ago, the region of the Palatine Forest was covered with tundra-like vegetation, amongst which, initially, undemanding tree species such as pine and birch were able to spread as the climate gradually warmed up (the "pine-birch" period). As climatic conditions improved these species were followed by hazel, oak and lime (the "hazel and oak period"). From the 3rd millennium a more Atlantic-influenced climate evolved, which was cooler and wetter, so that now beech characterised the forest scenery. The oak and beech mixed woods, typical of the current period, emerged, the pines being forced back into those areas that were either less favourable, very wet or very dry places, but remained part of the natural woodland.
Palatinate Forest
On the eastern edge of the Palatinate Forest, in the borough of Neustadt an der Weinstraße above the village of the same, is Hambach Castle, which was the scene of the Hambach Festival in 1832 and has since been seen as a symbol of democracy. Several kilometres further south, near Edenkoben, is the Villa Ludwigshöhe, built in the mid-19th century and used as a summer residence of the Bavarian king Ludwig I.
Walking routes in the Palatine Forest
The Palatinate Tourist Office worked in cooperation with the Association of German Mountain and Hiking Clubs ("Deutscher Wanderverband") on the routes for three certified paths which were opened in April 2011, two of which run through the Palatine Forest:Many villages and municipalities in the Palatine Forest have marked out local footpaths. These circular routes are usually waymarked with numbers and are of short to medium length, mainly used by local people. The care of these circular walks (waymarking, clearing) has been very neglected in recent years due to lower demand and tighter budgets. As a result, some can only be located with the aid of topographic maps.
Kalmithaus
The Kalmithaus, also called the Ludwigshafener Hut, near Maikammer in the Rhineland-Palatinate county of Südliche Weinstraße is a refuge hut in the Palatinate Forest run by the Ludwigshafen-Mannheim branch of the Palatinate Forest Club. It is located in the southern part of the Haardt mountains at the summit of its highest peak, the Kalmit (), and is thus the highest hut in the Palatinate Forest. From its terrace there is often a stunning view of the Upper Rhine Plain as far as the foothills of the southern Odenwald and northern Black Forest. Immediately next to the hut is the observation tower on the Kalmit, which is out of bounds to the public, and houses a radio relay station, a weather station and a visibility survey station.
Palatine Forest Mountain Bike Park
The Palatine Forest Mountain Bike Park () in the Palatinate Forest is a mountain bike trail network in Germany, in the centre of the biosphere reserve of the Palatinate Forest-North Vosges. The network was opened in April 2005.
Wilgartswiesen
The municipality lies in the southern part of the Palatine Forest, the German part of the Wasgau, in the middle of the Palatine Forest-North Vosges Biosphere Reserve. On the territory of Wilgartswieser the Wellbach stream empties into the Queich, which itself is one of the main drainage systems of the Palatinate region. North of the village run several bunter sandstone rock groups, out of which the castles of Wilgartaburg and Falkenburg have been hewn. The municipal terrain, most of which is part of the Frankenweide, is almost entirely wooded.
Walking routes in the Palatine Forest
Green and blue bars: this route runs from Göllheim to Eppenbrunn. Its waypoints include Alsenborn, Frankenstein, Schwarzsohl Hut (PWV), Breitenstein, Eußerthal, Rinnthal, Schwanheim and Erfweiler.
Green and white bars: starting at Wasener Kreuz (west of Hertlingshausen, on the A6 motorway) this route runs through Lambertskreuz, Neidenfels, Esthal, Breitenstein, Forsthaus Heldenstein and St. Martin.
White and blue bars: called the Alsenz Valley Trail, this path runs from Bad Münster am Stein via Rockenhausen to the Palatine Forest, and then runs via Alsenborn and Hochspeyer to the Palatine Forest Club hut of Forsthaus Schwarzsohl. From there it continues to Helmbach, through the Dörenbach valley to Eußerthal, and via Annweiler and Waldrohrbach to Klingenmünster. From here the trail passes through Gleiszellen, runs past the "Silzer Linde", and the Palatine Forest Club hut of "Hirzeck" on the French border to St. Germanshof.
White and blue bars: the second route with this waymark is further east in the Palatine Forest. The starting point os Battenberg. Running past the Hardenburg castle, Eckkopf (west of Deidesheim), with a branch to the Stabenberg mountain, and Weinbiet to Neustadt an der Weinstraße, Haßloch, Germersheim before ending in Wörth am Rhein.
White and red bars: one path with this waymark runs from the Palatine Forest to Speyer on the Rhine. Its waypoints are Kaiserslautern, Waldleiningen, Schwarzsohl, Esthal, Erfenstein, Hellerplatz, Neustadt an der Weinstraße, Ordenswald/Haßloch, Fronmühle and Speyer.
White and red bars: another route with this waymark begins in the Krumbachtal valley, runs to Bad Dürkheim, continues along the edge of the Haardt mountains, before passing Heidenlöcher, St. Michael's Chapel near Deidesheim and Gimmeldingen before reaching Neustadt.
Blue and yellow bars: This path, which runs from Lauterecken through the North Palatine Uplands to the Palatinate Forest, then passes through Otterberg and the Eselsfürth heading for Hochspeyer; from here it goes via Waldleiningen and the Mückenwiese to Speyerbrunn in the Elmstein valley. It then continues along the Erlenbachs stream to Hofstätten and the "Annweiler Forsthaus", then via Wilgartswiesen and Hauenstein to the Palatine Forest Club hut of "Dicke Eiche". Finally it goes via Erlenbach bei Dahn and Reisdorf on the French border to St. Germanshof.
White and green bars: the path runs from the Obere Eselsmühle mill via Enkenbach-Alsenborn, Diemerstein and Frankenstein to Weidenthal. It continues via the Goldbrunnen, Esthal and Erfenstein to the Palatine Forest Club hut of "Totenkopf". It then makes its way through the Hüttenhohl to the summit of the Kalmit which, at 673 metres, is the highest mountain in the Palatine Forest (with a manageed Palatine Forest Club hut), before descending from the Haardt mountains to Maikammer.
Humberg
Humberg is the name of two hills in the Palatinate Forest:Humberg also refers to:
Palatinate Forest
In the later Paleogene (34 to 23.8 million years ago) and Neogene (23.8 to 2.8 million years ago) and also in the Quaternary period (2.8 - 0.01 million years ago) erosion processes once more dominated. In particular, it was the weathering and removal processes that occurred during the various cold and warm periods that determined the final topographical shape of the Palatinate Forest. Characteristic of this is a system of deeply incised valleys, especially in the north and centre, diverse mountain shapes and bizarre rock formations.
Kieskautberg
The Kieskautberg is a hill, , which is located 2 kilometres south of the German village of Carlsberg in the east of the Diemerstein Forest, which is part of the northern Palatine Forest.
Palatinate Forest Nature Park
The park is the responsibility of the "Naturpark Pfälzerwald e.V." founded on 20 July 1982. The members of the organisation are those districts and towns on whose territory the nature park is located as well as the Palatinate Regional Association and numerous sports clubs and environmental groups. Many business are involved in the work of the nature park which enables the independence of individual functional and regional interests to be guaranteed. The aim of the organisation is to develop in a coherent way the nature park and the biosphere reserve of the same name and to look after and preserve its uniqueness and beauty as well as its pan-regional value as a recreation area. The headquarters of the park association has been based seit in Lambrecht since 1997.
Palatine Watershed
In the south the Palatine Watershed lies below , its highest point being in the central Palatine Forest northwest of the Hortenkopf at and in the vicinity of Eschkopf and Mosisberg, in both cases reaching 596m above NHN. The two branches further north vary considerably in height: the western branch lies well under . The northern branch reaches more than at the Donnersberg, from where its elevation reduces on the last 8 kilometres to the Rheinhessian border still at an elevation of .
Palatinate Forest
The Palatinate Forest Nature Park was recognized in 1992 by UNESCO as a biosphere reserve. In 1998 it became the German part of the first cross-border UNESCO biosphere reserve, namely the Palatinate Forest-North Vosges Biosphere Reserve. It thus became the 12th of (as at 2009) 15 German biosphere reserves. These are areas that have a special significance for the global conservation of biological diversity and in which the ecological aspects, sustainable economic management, environmental education and environmental research are best linked together.
Palatinate Forest
At the beginning of the Palaeogene period of the Cenozoic era (66 to 23.8 million years ago) the formation of the Alps led to considerable tensions in the earth's crust, which, in their forelands to the north of the Alps, caused a bulge in the mantle and crust. At the apex of the arch so formed, there were considerable tensile stresses, so that the rock layers were stretched and about 35 million years ago, deep cracks and depressions in the earth's crust occurred (passive rifting). At the same time the sides of the newly created lowlands were uplifted, in the case of the Palatinate Forest, to a height of about 1000 metres.
List of mountains and hills of the Palatine Forest
This list of mountains and hills in the Palatine Forest contains a selection of the highest or more notable peaks located in the natural region of the Palatine Forest in the German state of Rhineland-Palatinate (maximum ).
Palatinate (region)
One-third of the region is covered by the Palatinate Forest ("Pfälzerwald"), including the Palatinate Forest Nature Park popular with hikers. With about it is Germany's largest contiguous forested area, and is part of the Franco-German Palatinate Forest-North Vosges Biosphere Reserve.
Johanniskreuz
Johanniskreuz has always been a central communication hub in the Palatine Forest. Whilst the most important historic link from Speyer to Metz ran from east to west and the area around Johanniskreuz was also part of the northern route of the Palatine St. James' Ways, today the main transport axis is the B 48 federal highway from Annweiler to Hochspeyer which runs from north to south. From the Queich valley to Hochspeyer, Johanniskreuz is the only settlement on this very route, which is very winding especially in the north. Also important from a transport perspective is the equally winding state road through the Elmstein Valley towards Neustadt an der Weinstraße. Other road links in a western direction through the Karlstal to Trippstadt and southwest – Heltersberg, Waldfischbach-Burgalben – in places follow paths that were used in the Middle Ages.
Bad Dürkheim (district)
The district is located on the eastern rim of the Palatinate Forest a line of hills called the Haardt. The German Wine Road ("Deutsche Weinstraße"), a scenic road along the best vineyards of the Palatinate wine region, runs through the district from north to south. The district is sometimes called "the heart of the Palatinate".
Palatinate Forest
The Palatinate Forest is an attractive region for hiking, offering an extensive network of trails.
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.