The Wutach Gorge is a unique nature preservation area. It is not possible to drive through the gorge. It can only be accessed on foot. The streams that feed the Wutach River flow down from the eastern slope of the Feldberg. The stretch of water takes on three different names before reaching the Wutach River. The “Seebach” flows from the Feldsee on the eastern cirque of the Feldberg to the Titisee, through the floodplain of the Bärental Valley. The section flowing away from the Titisee is called “Gutach” (gute Ach). East of Neustadt, the stream turns into a torrential river and is given the name “Wutach” (wütende Ach).
A glimpse of earth’s history
This is where it gets interesting from a botanical and geological perspective. The Wutach River is deeply entrenched within the earth’s Keuper layers and continues to reshape the riverbed and the ravine, in particular, in the spring. Hobby geologists can gain an interesting insight into the earth’s history by viewing the sloping rock layers in the east. The karst landscape formations, the sinkholes, and the fossil rocks in the Lias, such as ammonites and belemnites, are particularly interesting.
An Eldorado for hobby botanists
1,200 of the 2,500 central European plant species are found here, including rarities like hart’s tongue, the tunic flower, Turk’s cap lily, lunaria, and lunaria annua in the autumn.
It comes as no surprise that the gorge is also home to more than 500 types of butterflies. For example, the rare Apollo butterfly. Hundreds of bird species are there to greet nature lovers, including the honey buzzard, the goosander, and the colourful kingfisher.
The Wutach River can be explored from west to east in around two days.
Good places to start are the Gutach Bridge by Kappel (east of Neustadt) and the Schattenmühle (information centre and hiker’s car park) by Löffingen-Göschweiler.
Other great places from which to start exploring are Dietfurt (hiker’s car park by Löffingen-Reiselfingen) or the hiker’s car park by Löffingen-Bachheim.
More information: Wutach ranger Mareike Matt posts about the current situation in the Wutach gorge on Instagram
