The starting point for our hike to the Brandenkopf is the church in the center of Oberharmersbach . To reach the parking lot, coming from Zell am Harmersbach, we keep to the right in front of the church. After a few meters the parking space is on the left.

Alternatively, we can also travel with the Ortenau S-Bahn from Alpirsbach via Haslach.

We start our tour directly at a signpost that shows us the climb to the Brandenkopf. We follow a road past a large gravel area to the second signpost. There we follow the “Brandenkopf hiking trail” and don't let the large sign in the direction of Brandenkopf confuse us. This is the official access road for cars.

The path continues through a residential area with well-kept gardens and well-preserved Black Forest houses. At the end of the street we reach the Häldelebrunnen, where we follow the street uphill and slowly leave Oberharmersbach. After a few minutes' walk we find ourselves on an asphalt path, lined with fruit trees, with a first great view of the village. We follow the path towards “Danielhof”, which we reach after about 30 minutes.

Above the farm, the forest path leads us continuously, moderately steeply, through a forest densely populated with fir trees towards “Berggastwirtschaft-Durben”. A few meters before we reach the inn, we leave the forest and, for the first time, a tremendous view of the adventurous landscape of the central Black Forest opens up for just a few meters.

We enjoy the view on a perfectly placed wooden bench before continuing our sweaty hike. From here we also see the radio tower for the first time, which is located at the summit of the Brandenkopf and shows us the direction. On the right we can already see the Vosges, which mark the border with France.

Above the inn we reach an asphalted road. (Brandenkopf access road) We cross this and follow the signs “Schwarzenbachsattel / Brandenkopf - comfortable path”.

The Durbensattelweg leads us further, moderately steeply, to the Schwarzenbachsattel, the 786m high pass between Brandenkopf and Nillkopf.

From here we follow the nature trail (marked “NL”) past the well-preserved Karl-Albert-Junghans Hut to the end of our tour.

Again and again we find information boards about the native trees of the Brandenkopf region. The path continues uphill past the Spitzbrunnen towards the wind turbines on the ridge.

From now on, a narrow, partly stony but still easy path leads us in just a few minutes directly to the Brandenkopf tower with its associated hiking home/inn. (closed on Tuesdays)

breathtaking view of this hike open up in all directions for the first time .

From the Vosges over the Swabian Alb and from the Feldberg (1493m) in the southern Black Forest to the Hornisgrinde (1193m) in the northern Black Forest. All important surveys can be viewed here from a bird's eye view.

If visibility was good, which we had on our day of touring, with a bit of luck you could see the mountains of the Swiss Alps, over 4000m high, on the horizon. Information boards in every direction make it easy to forget the time here.

After a refreshment in the rustic inn, which is decorated with Swabian paintings, we begin the descent on the ascent path. After about 1.5 hours we reach our starting point.