Overview
The Harzer Försterstieg is a ~ 60 km trail that runs through the Harz Mountains of Northern Germany, from the town of Goslar to the village of Kamschlacken. The Harz are a beautiful part of Germany, and the Försterstieg is a good way to experience them. The more-popular and longer Harzer Hexenstieg is nearby, and even runs jointly with the Försterstieg for a few kilometers. In contrast to the Harzer Hexenstieg, the Försterstieg offers more solitude due to its lack of popularity. The Försterstieg is lined with wooden carvings that give it character and keep hikers excited about what carved animal they will find next.
Planning
- Camping: Wild camping is simple. The trail is lightly traveled (at least this was the case in late October), and it is frequented with huts (“Schutzhütte”) that are adequate for sleeping. The legality of sleeping in these huts in Germany is disputed, so do so at your own risk.
- Transport: Getting to/from the trail is not too difficult. Goslar (Northern terminus) is a relatively large town. Kamschlacken (Southern terminus) is tiny and only served by buses on week days. A hiker finishing on the weekend could leave the trail early to descend into the train-serviced town of Osterode Am Harz, or hike the 13 km from Kamschlacken to Osterode Am Harz. We opted for the second option, but after only a few km of road walking a nice couple picked us up and gave us a ride into town.
- Navigation: The trail is not very well-marked. The markings are sparse and confusing, and sometimes just plain wrong. We loaded the GPS route onto our phones ahead of time and used them for navigation. This worked perfectly.
- Services: The trail passes near a few towns, but it doesn’t actually descend into any towns except for at the start and finish. Goslar (Northern Terminus) has many services, while Kamschlacken (Southern Terminus) has only a cafe.
- Water: We found plenty of water along the route, but there were a few long dry stretches so it is a good idea to carry a bit extra (we carried 1.7 L each). The water wasn’t mucky or gross, so our Sawyer Squeeze filters worked great for refilling from trail side water sources.
Carvings along the trail
Försterstieg Day 1
This morning we headed toward the nearby Harz Mountains to do a ‘thruhike’ of the Försterstieg. The Harz mountain range is about an hour from Göttingen and is the closest thing we have to wilderness that is somewhat nearby. The Försterstieg is a ~60km trail that runs from the Northwest side of the range to the Southwest side. We woke up at 5 and caught the 6:07 train to the town of Goslar, where the trail starts. We met a friendly musician named Freddie on the train. He was on his way to the airport to fly to Denmark and Norway for shows. We had a bit of trouble finding the official start of the trail in Goslar, but we got there eventually. Because the days are getting short (sunset was at 6 tonight), we had to keep hiking when the sun was up and couldn’t take as many breaks as we’d prefer, but we like to keep moving too. The trail was poorly marked and we lost it a few times. The maps we made for our phones helped keep us on track though. The trail had a lot of logging scars and tree-piles and was almost completely on logging roads instead of paths, but it was through pretty forests and past some nice dammed lakes. We saw many people out collecting mushrooms around the trail. We found a hut to camp in a bit before sunset, collected water, made dinner, and now we’re going to bed at 7. Nice! We covered more ground today than we’re in shape to do (29 miles/45 km), so the sleep will be welcome.
Försterstieg Day 2
We woke up warm and cozy this morning in a hut after over 10 hours of sleep. We enjoyed some coffee and oats and then started hiking before sunrise. It was raining and pretty cold for the first few hours of the day. The rain mostly cleared up in the afternoon though. We walked through forests and over some dams. We saw 5 fire salamanders. We got to the finish of the hike around 2 pm. The bus near the trailhead only runs Monday through Friday, so we started the 20 km walk to the larger town of Osterode which has a train station. We decided stick out our thumbs whenever a car drive by in order to try to hitchhike to the train station. We ended up getting picked up by a nice couple though who drove us all the way home to Göttingen on their way home to Kassel!
