A hike with a lot of hidden gems to search through the forest. Castles, ruines, caves and many strangely shaped stones! The climbs are always moderate, and the paths are mostly well-maintained and signed but still being a trail that goes often through forest and caves, you need to follow it with attention. And off the trail we can go often for a quick on-top adventure, there are several caves to try to explore at least partially.

I have been many years ago several times to this beautiful region of Bayern known as Franconian Switzerland and organized also a few hikes there in HB. lets go to Pegnitz river Valley. Our starting and ending point is in Velden, right on the banks of the Pegnitz.

From Velden Bahnhof we catch a panoramaweg trail till we reach a picturesque wooden bridge that takes you to the other side of the river Pegnitz. Turn right, past the overhanging rocks of the climbing wall known as "The Beach" in Velden to a spot where you have a beautiful view of the cheerfully gurgling water wheel of the watermill, a wild romantic view.

Back towards the bridge and a little further until a stone staircase leads you up, first to the war memorial flanked by iron crosses, and then, over an iron footbridge, to the edge of the rock face. Up here, the path continues to the right along a magnificent climb, always directly along the edge of The Beach.

Shortly after this beautiful viewpoint, turn sharply left at the yellow dot and continue up the slope via a forest staircase. This hiking sign will accompany you for quite a while.

It leads you past a pasture and a tennis court, then along a plateau amidst expansive meadows, until the path leads past a massive rock—turn around after passing it so you can admire it in all its glory—down into the Kipfen Valley, which appears particularly dark through the dense forest.

As you emerge from the Kipfen Valley forest, turn right at the red circle onto the gravel path. It leads you in a serpentine fashion past several rock formations, many of which are worth a second look.

Then your path branches off to the left at the red circle onto a track that is densely overgrown for the first few meters. Don't worry, after a few steps the vegetation thins out and you'll walk up a narrow path until you reach the gravel road again. Alternatively, you can simply continue along the gravel road. Now you'll hike over to Münzinghof. First, you'll walk through lush meadows, then through an avenue of chestnut trees. In the village, turn right at the bus stop, leave the village, and walk to the edge of the forest.

Follow the "Red Circle" hiking trail sign into the forest. Behind a forest meadow, turn left. About 200 meters later, your hiking trail sign points you from the main trail onto a path to the right. Past a small pond, at a fork in the path to the right, you soon reach a wooden seating area and, to the left of it, almost inconspicuous at first, the entrance to the Geisloch Cave.

We will try to explore at least a small part of it carefully, otherwise we will have other interesting caves in the way, maybe not as beautiful as this one but easier to explore. Normally you would descend the stone steps into the crevice carefully. It gets cooler inside usually. Now it's time to unpack your jackets and lamps, take care not hitting with your head, and step into the darkness.

After just a few meters, you'll be enveloped in deep black. Turn on your lamps and marvel. To the right and left, shafts lead a short distance down before abruptly ending. Above you, the cave sky opens up, revealing fans, sails, and small stalactites.

Your path leads you slightly left, between rocks, up a short distance on clay soil into the second chamber. To your right are some beautifully formed sinter pools, creating the impression of an irrigated lunar landscape. Behind them, the water of a small cave pool shimmers in the light of the lamps. A narrow passage leads you straight ahead into the third chamber of the Geisloch Cave. the cave lake, divided by a natural bridge. And on the walls, on the ceiling, and in the chambers at the far end of the lake are wonderful limestone and rock formations.

After the Geisloch, we retrace our steps back to the main trail, which soon changes direction with a very sharp left turn onto the gravel road.

At the edge of the forest, follow the yellow cross/green line to the right. Soon, we go straight into the forest, climb a short distance, and past the Hohle Fels (Hollow Rock). This is where the Ankatal Valley (also called Ankertal) begins.

We follow the gravel path. If you can already see the road ahead, keep looking up to the left. There, between all the trees, you'll see the large cave entrance of the Michelhöhle (St. Michel Cave). Two unmarked paths lead you through the dense bushes up to the cave. There, you'll be greeted by a large cave from which you can enjoy a good view down into the valley. The special thing about the Michelhöhle (St. Michel Cave) is the enormous overhang of its portal.

From the cave, descend back to the gravel path, walk to the road, cross it, and take the meadow path marked with the green line on the opposite side. The Ankatal Valley reveals its pleasant side here: Dense meadows, garnished with many colorful flowers.

Then you walk past interesting rock formations into the forest. Keep to the right. Soon, signs announce the nearby St. Andrew's Church, to which a path branches off after a few meters.

This cave is captivating due to the nature of the rock. Somehow, the walls appear as if they were carved by human hands. To the right, there's a slender, church-like cave window to marvel at. To the top left, a chasm through which all sorts of rocks seem to have entered the interior.

Then we return to the path and continu hiking, deep into the Anka Valley. The rocks on the sides become higher and higher and very inspiring.

Up on the slope, you can see enormous rock formations! The valley becomes narrower. The slopes higher. Then it opens up, but only briefly, before bidding you farewell once again with a furious rocky ending at the exit in Rupprechtstegen. The fascinating Ankatalwand forms the end of the Ankatal valley and leads you into the Pegnitz Valley, that we get to admire from a ver nice vantage point. The climbing walls that tower into the sky, often hidden on the slopes in the forest and only easily visible and explored from the footpath. The water feature of the Pegnitz River, which has carved its way through the landscape over millennia.

We keep hiking direction east till we reach the idyllic village of Hartenstein. Here we could stop fpr a break at restaurant inside the burg Hartenstein that should be very lovely.

So from the center of Hartenstein, we take the road up towards Grünreuth to the southeast and soon reach trail marker no. 4 to the Hirtenberg. A little later, it leads left up into the forest; high above us, we see the summit cross. A gentle climb follows to a bend with a beautiful view of a jagged rock formation. Here, the path turns sharply left and leads up steps, then over the ridge to the rocky summit: the view of the town and Hartenstein Castle and the mountain ridges from Hohenstein Castle to the Fichtel Mountains is magnificent.

Returning to the bend, we turn left onto an unmarked trail that initially descends gently, then level off as it traverses a rocky slope. At the junction with a forest road, we keep left and soon come across the redpoint, green cross, and blue line trails: they lead us past several Stations of the Cross, then left, past the imposing Rabesberger Wand, and steeply up to the Frauenberg Chapel. After a gentle descent, the path forks: we turn right here, following several markers. Just 10 meters later, the redpoint and trail no. 5 lead right again, descending more steeply, finally onto a forest path into a small valley. To the right, we can see the imposing rock massif in which the Hainkirche church is hidden. Shortly after two trees on the left and right, each bearing both markers, we find the ascent route: clear trail marks lead right into the forest, then, keeping left, through the slope, and finally up in switchbacks to the massif. Finally, you reach the first cave chamber along the left wall and over a rocky ledge in the steep slope. A unique structure opens up before us: a 40-meter-long gallery cave with seven entrances, divided by low rock arches, and side chambers containing sinter decorations.

Soon we turn right onto a gravel path, where the marker of the Great Cave Circular Trail (Bear) occasionally appears. Soon we ascend a narrow path to the Petershöhle massif, whose imposing northern cliffs dominate the scenery. Finally, a path branches off to the left and leads steeply up the slope, then again to the left to a saddle below which lies the basin with the cave entrance. Rocky steps lead us down the left flank to the cave. The main chamber and the upper level branching off to the left are among the most beautiful cave rooms in the Alb.

Returning to the saddle, we descend a short distance and then turn left onto the Blaupunkt Trail. It leads past bizarre rock formations with small caves, then descends steeply to the right into the valley. There, we turn right onto the descending track and follow it till another forest road crosses, we go left, but after just a few meters, we turn right onto a path that climbs steeply to the Gotthardsberg massif. Following faint trail traces, we reach wildly jagged rocks in switchbacks and, turning right, the final major highlight: we ascend through the fantastically shaped passageway of the Gotthard Church, or Witches' Kitchen. From the top, we climb left to the heights and then follow a clear path over the ridge to the west. A forest road leads us down to the Grünstrich hiking trail and turns left onto it. We pass the rocks of the Schollberg and soon reach the edge of Hartenstein. From here, we walk down till Velden station where our long hike ends.