Discover Frankenau: heathland, hiking trails and culture

Frankenau is presented as a starting point for exploring Kellerwald-Edersee National Park. Travellers who want to combine their stay with hiking and nature and cultural themes will find a range of options in the town and nearby. The trails each have their own focus: the stated total length of the Historic Hiking Trail No. 3, the destinations and route divisions of the Kellerwaldsteig, and the landscape features along the heathland nature trail. Natural monuments and information centres add to the mix. This allows you to shape your stay around walking, landscapes and cultural history.

Hiking trails with different focuses

From Frankenau, the Kellerwaldsteig offers green-and-white-marked alternative routes to Asel, Herzhausen and Hüddingen. These allow the trail to be divided into a northern, southern and western route. When planning your route, you can therefore take both the destinations and the route divisions into account.

The Historic Hiking Trail No. 3 covers a total of 10 kilometres and leads to places of historical interest in the Frankenau area. It therefore gives a specific total distance, whereas the Kellerwaldsteig focuses on alternative routes, destinations and the divisions into northern, southern and western routes. When choosing a trail, you can consider a stated distance and different route directions as separate factors.

Another hiking option is the heathland nature trail. Along the trail, visitors can discover the flora and fauna of various nutrient-poor grassland and heathland habitats in Frankenau’s cultural landscape. Here, the choice of route goes hand in hand with a closer look at the diversity of these habitats.

Heathland, valley and natural monuments

Frankenau’s cultural landscape is characterised by the coexistence of different types of nutrient-poor grassland and heathland. This is the landscape setting for the heathland nature trail, which brings together the flora and fauna of different habitats in this cultural landscape as a theme to explore.

The Wichtelsteine in Frankenau are among the area’s striking natural features. This natural monument includes small caves that formed in the rock faces over thousands of years. Its long formation history and small caves give this place a different focus from the open heathland and nutrient-poor grassland habitats.

Nearby, west of Frankenau near Ellershausen, lies the Lengelbach Valley. It extends for more than five kilometres through woodland and meadows, from Ellershausen to where it flows into the Eder below Hessenstein Castle. There are no public roads in the valley. It therefore offers a distinctive landscape to explore near the destination.

Cultural history and architecture

The KellerwaldUhr is located directly at the national park entrance of the same name in Frankenau. Its exhibition explores the history of the forest and the region’s cultural development from the Ice Age to the present day. At the “Kultur-Arche” information centre in Frankenau, visitors can see historic domestic animal breeds and embark on a journey of cultural and historical discovery. It is located on Wolfskaute, opposite the Kellerwaldhalle. The two information centres have different focuses: the KellerwaldUhr covers the history of the forest and regional development, while the Kultur-Arche focuses on historic domestic animal breeds and cultural history.

Frankenau Church also offers an architectural point of interest: it was built entirely in the Neo-Gothic style. Goethe-Anlage is at the edge of Frankenau on the road towards Löhlbach and is considered the smallest park in Hesse. Together, they complement the nature and hiking themes with a look at architecture and a small park in town.

Discover more destinations

Altenlotheim, Haina, Vöhl, Bad Arolsen, Bad Wildungen, Allendorf, Burgwald, Twistetal

For the main travel overview: Waldeck-Frankenberg.