Germany · Schwarzwald · Premium route guide
Black Forest – Schwarzwaldhochstraße & B500
350 kilometres down the spine of the Black Forest — the Schwarzwaldhochstraße along the crest, then the B500 south through Triberg, Titisee and the Feldberg to the Swiss border at Waldshut. Flowing, forested, well-surfaced. GPX, map and rider-vetted stays.
- Distance
- 351.7 km
- Peak elevation
- 1,237 m
- Elevation gain
- 6,372 m
- Best months
- Apr–Oct
The route
From Baden-Baden the Schwarzwaldhochstraße (B500) climbs the ridge past Bühlerhöhe and the Mummelsee, drops into Freudenstadt, then continues south via Triberg, Titisee, the Feldberg and Todtnau to Waldshut on the Swiss border. Pins are motorcycle-friendly stays other riders have vetted.
Interactive map needs cookie consent.
Accept cookies at the bottom of the page to load OpenStreetMap tiles for this route.
Works with Garmin, TomTom, BMW Navigator, Calimoto, Kurviger, komoot, MyRouteApp. Import as a track to ride the exact line. Road data from OpenStreetMap (ODbL); elevation from SRTM.
Track vs. route — how to load this into your GPS
What you're downloading is a GPX track — a dense, road-snapped breadcrumb of the exact line, with elevation on every point. It's not a GPX route (a short list of turn waypoints your device re-plans between). Tracks preserve our road choice; routes let the device pick its own way and can send you down a boring motorway shortcut.
How to use it on your navigator:
- BMW Navigator / Garmin Zumo / zūmo XT: import as a track, then Convert to Route (or Trip Planner → new trip from track) if you want turn-by-turn prompts. Keep Recalculation off so it stays on our line.
- TomTom Rider: import the GPX in MyDrive — it loads as a track / itinerary. Enable Follow the exact route so it doesn't re-plan.
- Calimoto: open the GPX and choose Import as tour — Calimoto follows the track line.
- Kurviger / komoot / MyRouteApp: open the GPX and pick Import as track to keep the road choice. Only choose Import as route if you want the app to re-plan for your bike profile.
- Google Maps / Apple Maps: these don't read GPX. Use the map on this page for turn cues, or import the file into a GPX-capable app first.
Rule of thumb: if your device asks "track or route?", pick track to ride our exact line — pick route only if you want the device to re-plan.
Elevation profile
From ~168 m at the base to 1237 m at the top — 6,372 m of total climbing across the route.
This is the ride most European riders learn to corner on. It's not high (top out around 1,050 m at the Mummelsee ridge), it's not remote, and it's not technical — what it is is a 200 km ribbon of well-cambered, well-surfaced forest road with almost no straight bits. The Alps for people who don't want the Alps.
The Schwarzwaldhochstraße (Baden-Baden to Freudenstadt) is the crowded bit — famous for cars and coaches on summer Sundays. If you ride it on a weekday it's magnificent. Everything south of Freudenstadt on the B500 is quieter, longer, and arguably a better road.
The road, honestly
Germans learn to ride here. The B500 is the reason. Wide two-lane road, dark green forest either side, corners that flow into each other for kilometres at a time, and speed limits that are actually reasonable (100 km/h in most sections). On a summer weekday morning you'll pass a dozen sport-bike groups doing the same loop.
Weekend afternoons are a different story. The Schwarzwaldhochstraße section between Baden-Baden and Freudenstadt attracts every car club within 200 km. If you can only ride weekends, ride the southern half (Freudenstadt → Titisee → Waldshut) instead — same road quality, half the traffic.
Two halves, pick either or both
The northern half — Baden-Baden to Freudenstadt via the Schwarzwaldhochstraße — is 60 km of ridge road with the classic Black Forest views. The southern half — Freudenstadt to Waldshut via Triberg, Titisee, Feldberg and Todtnau — is 150 km of more varied riding through the deeper forest. Ride both back-to-back for a full day; or split it with a night in Freudenstadt or Titisee.
Titisee is the tourist hub — glacial lake, cuckoo-clock shops, cafés with terraces. It's slightly kitsch and completely fine as an overnight stop. Freudenstadt (largest market square in Germany) is quieter and more genuinely alpine in feel.
Loops off the B500 worth doing
The B317 from Todtnau up over the Feldberg (highest peak in the Black Forest, 1,493 m — you can't ride to the top but the road around its shoulder is fun) and back down to Titisee is a natural half-day loop.
The B294 west out of Freudenstadt down the Kinzigtal and back via the Schwarzwaldbahn is another. Both are 60–80 km, both are quieter than the B500 itself.
Weather and fuel
Rideable April through October. Snow at the top of the Feldberg is possible into May and from November. Summer thunderstorms are the main risk — the forest gets dark fast when a cell rolls in. Cell coverage and fuel are both excellent throughout — this is Germany.
What to see along the way
- Mummelsee (1,032 m) — Glacial tarn on the Schwarzwaldhochstraße ridge. Café, viewpoint, unavoidable coach stop — worth 15 minutes.
- Freudenstadt — Largest market square in Germany, natural coffee stop between the two halves of the ride.
- Triberg — Waterfall town — the falls are Germany's highest, and the cuckoo-clock capital of the world is here whether you want it or not.
- Titisee — Glacial lake, lakeside cafés, tourist tat and a great overnight stop.
- Feldberg (1,493 m) — Highest peak in the Black Forest. The B317 loop around it is the region's best-kept riding secret.
- Todtnauer Wasserfall — Waterfall south of Todtnau — 97 m drop, short walk from the road.
Rent a bike
Rent a motorcycle or scooter for Black Forest – Schwarzwaldhochstraße & B500
Flying in? Pick up a bike near the start of the route. We've pre-filled the pick-up city with Freudenstadt / Titisee — change it if you're basing elsewhere.
Rentals powered by BikesBooking. StayToRide may earn a small commission — no extra cost to you.
Rider-verified stays within 30 km
Automatically selected by proximity to the traced route — no editorial cherry-picking. Sorted by how close they are to the road.
Ridden this road and stayed somewhere great?
This whole directory grows one rider recommendation at a time. Add a stay and it'll appear on this guide automatically if it's within 30 km of the route.
Suggest a stay