Vom Wald das Beste. – Nationalparkregion Bayerischer Wald

Bavarian Forest National Park

Discover the forest wilderness

Im Oktober 1970 wurde damals im Rachel-Lusen-Gebiet der erste Nationalpark in ganz Deutschland gegründet.

Seither darf sich die Natur rund um die beiden Berge Rachel und Lusen nach ihren ureigenen Gesetzen und weitestgehend ohne Eingriff von Menschenhand frei entfalten und entwickeln.
1997 wurde das Gebiet um den Falkenstein erweitert, sodass der gesamte Nationalpark nun ein Gebiet von fast 25.000 Hektar umfasst.
Zusammen mit dem angrenzenden Nationalpark Sumava auf tschechischer Seite bildet dies nun da größte zusammenhängende Waldgebiet Mitteleuropas.

"Natur Natur sein lassen"


"Natur Natur sein lassen", so lautet das Motto des Nationalparks. Und tatsächlich, der Wald entwickelt sich hin zu einer faszinierenden Waldwildnis, die mit vielfältigster Tier- und Pflanzenwelt, mit beeindruckenden Bachläufen, Mooren, Filzen und Schachten und mächtigen Felsformationen jeden Besucher begeistert.

Unzählige Kilometer an bestens beschilderten Wanderwegen, der Baumwipfelpfad Bayerischer Wald, die beiden Nationalparkzentren Lusen und Falkenstein mit ihren jeweiligen Tierfreigeländen, ein abwechslungsreiches Führungsprogramm, sowie etliche Themen- und Erlebniswege - das sind nur kleine Auszüge aus dem breiten Angebot des Nationalparks Bayerischer Wald, welche ihn zu einem idealen Ziel für unvergesslichen Natururlaub, Erlebnisurlaub oder auch Familienurlaub in Bayern machen.

Erlebe in der Ferienregion Nationalpark Bayerischer Wald hautnah die natürliche Waldverjüngung, und werde Zeuge, wie neuer, wilder Wald entsteht.

The winter program is here!

Almost all year round, the Bavarian Forest National Park, in cooperation with the two associations Pro Nat Freyung-Grafenau and Pro Nat Zwiesel, offers a varied adventure program.

In addition to exciting excursions into the wild nature - whether on foot, by bike or on snowshoes - there is a wide range of activities on offer. There is also a colorful children's program, children's birthday parties, interesting lectures (scientific series), cheerful festivals, inspiring concerts and diverse exhibitions.

Many of the tours take place in cooperation with the Bavarian Forest National Park vacation region.

Discounts are also available with your NationalparkCard/GUTi-Card and activCard.

 

To the adventure program

 

Registration

Registration with telephone number is required at least one day in advance by 5 p.m., on weekends and public holidays by 1 p.m. at the National Park Guide Service on

0800 0776650 or nationalpark@fuehrungsservice.de

And the best thing about it! All guided tours can also be booked online.

To the online booking in the experience store

 

Because pictures often say more than 1000 words....

Our wild forest!

Return of the wilderness / Bavarian Forest National Park

A documentary by Lisa Eder

A fascinating forest wilderness is emerging in the middle of densely populated Europe. Free from human influence, a primeval forest with an unusual diversity of animals, plants and fungi is growing up in the Bavarian Forest National Park from the former commercial forests. People from all over the world visit it to experience and learn about wilderness.

Fallen trees, lynx roaming through the undergrowth, impenetrable thickets and countless beetles living in rotten tree trunks - in the middle of densely populated Europe, nature has been allowed to reclaim its habitat.
In the Bavarian Forest National Park, a vision has become a pioneering showcase project worldwide: Humans have not interfered with nature since 1970. It was a unique experiment that met with massive resistance. The result is still astonishing today. A primeval forest is growing out of the former commercial forests; a unique ecosystem and a refuge for biodiversity.
Locals and visitors alike draw on the emotional power of this forest. Foresters learn from it how to manage forests naturally again and not just according to criteria of profit maximization.
The documentary is more than just an atmospherically dense nature film and a sensual journey through the forest ecosystem. It addresses topical issues surrounding climate change and shows in impressive images that it can exist, the coexistence of man and untouched, wild nature.

To the documentary

Germany's largest national forest park

The national park was delighted to receive a special birthday present in the fall of 2020: the Finsterauer Filz at the southern end of the national park will expand by a further 700 hectares.
A great gift for the park's 50th anniversary.

You can already experience this intact raised bog up close. This drift system, which is so typical of this region, with its enclosures, drift channels and artificial water supply lines, is of the highest cultural and historical importance, enthuses Franz Leibl, the park's director, and mentions yet another attraction: the area in front of the national park also offers a fascinating cultural landscape.

"The woodland structure around Mauth, Hohenau and Freyung in particular presents a cultural landscape that can no longer be found anywhere else in this form."

Over the next few years, there are plans to build several viewing platforms, a sun terrace and a children's playground with a kiosk, as well as a barrier-free path through the Finsterauer Filz. So there's plenty of new things to discover in the future too - look forward to it!

You can find more information about the expansion on the homepage of the Bavarian Forest National Park

Website: Bavarian Forest National Park

Expansion of the Bavarian Forest National Park

Wistlberg nature experience

After the ground-breaking ceremony for the new facilities together with Minister of State Thorsten Glauber, representatives of the national park administration, the local authorities and the developers were delighted with the first partial success. The building for the new National Park Café has already been erected in a very short space of time.

In addition to the National Park Café, which can seat up to 30 people inside, a nature play area is also being created that will appeal to children of all ages and is also suitable for wheelchair users as far as possible. In addition, a ten meter high viewing platform "Lusenblick" will be built in the north-western area. A boardwalk through the Finsterauer Filz with the "Moorblick" viewing platform has also been largely completed. The conversion of the existing parking lot on Wistlberg for both car traffic and public transport is planned for 2024.

A total of around 3.5 million euros will be invested to turn the former commercial forest into a protected area suitable for tourism.

Tips for getting to know the expansion area

It will still take some time before the new forest area can be connected to the new existing national park and can be hiked on designated new hiking trails for locals, vacationers and guests.

However, you can already hike the extension area of the national park in the municipality of Mauth with the following tours and be enchanted by the unique flora and fauna:

  • Via Nova pilgrimage trail (cross-border)
  • Historical hiking trail "Goldener Steig" (cross-border)
  • Alternative route of the "Goldsteig" to the Czech Republic (orange "S"; cross-border)
  • Mourning Cloak circular trail (cross-border to the Fürstenhut cemetery)
  • Wachtelkönig circular route (NEW in PG Hiking)


Our tip: The Wachtelkönig circular trail

This trail leads to the Hammerklause. It is located in the southernmost part of the extension area and is therefore both the starting and end point of the circular trail. An absolutely enchanting "spot" in the municipality of Mauth.

The circular trail starts in the center of Finsterau. Alternatively, you can also park at the Finsterau ski/sports center (plenty of parking spaces). From there, after a short stretch on the winter hiking trail/gravel road next to the scooter track, you reach the Finsterauer Reute and then directly onto the circular trail.

You can also find the exact tour description in our new pocket guide Hiking and as a download in our tour portal.

We hope you enjoy hiking and exploring the Bavarian Forest National Park!

50 years of the national park in 2020

The magazine

On 64 pages, the national park administration not only looks back on the most important stages in the history of the protected area, but also presents the work of the present.

Behind our national park lies a moving history.
For more than 50 years now, something has been dared here in the Inner Bavarian Forest that was - and still is - groundbreaking. For the first time in Germany, nature was simply allowed to be nature over a large area. And it is still allowed to do so today.
The commercial forest of yesterday is developing into the primeval forest of tomorrow.

We have been able to observe these amazingly dynamic processes for more than five decades now.
In 2020, the Bavarian Forest National Park celebrated its 50th birthday .
A unique success story.

 

"The Bavarian Forest National Park is an extraordinary piece of wilderness in the heart of Europe with high biodiversity and space for rare species"

 

Further information on the Bavarian Forest National Park