The backbone of our hiking region

For over 150 years, the Black Forest Association has been a strong partner for nature, landscape, culture, and hiking. Its original goal was to promote tourism, which was achieved in subsequent years by developing the Black Forest with the help of travel literature, maps, benches, shelters, viewpoints, and the creation of hiking trails.

Today, the Black Forest Association maintains a network of over 23.000 kilometers of trails in the Black Forest . The trail wardens are the "heroes" of the network, contributing over 16.000 volunteer hours annually to ensure that hikers never get lost in the Black Forest.

Today, these waypoints also serve as rescue points for a unique rescue system developed by the Black Forest Association in cooperation with the mountain rescue service. This system is based on the Black Forest Association's digital trail network.

From the outset, the preservation and restoration of historical monuments and ruins was a statutory objective, now represented by the Department of Local Heritage . In 1909, the preservation of natural features became a statutory objective, marking the birth of today's Department of Nature Conservation . Group hikes were undertaken quite early on, but were not formally formulated as a statutory objective until the 1930s.

Since 2016, the Black Forest Association has been developing ideas and strategies for sustainable association work in the "Black Forest Association 2030" process – thus actively carrying its exemplary and successful activity into the coming years!

The Baden-Württemberg Hiking and Heritage Academy is the educational institution of the two largest hiking clubs, the Swabian Alb Association and the Black Forest Association. Its most important mission is the training and further education of qualified hiking guides with the aim of inspiring people to hike and introducing them to the scenic and cultural features of the state.

Gerhard Mörk from Gechingen coordinates this training and also teaches there. Besides in-depth specialist knowledge and didactic skills, the future hiking guide must also be familiar with other topics, such as the typical regional cuisine using local foods. As a father and grandfather, passing on knowledge to the next generation is a central concern for Mörk: "It gives me great pleasure to train hiking guides and fills me with pride when they then create and lead memorable tours."