Black Forest

Deep down, the Black Forest is made of rocks called gneiss and granite.

In some places, sandstone lies on top.

The LGRB divides the Black Forest's rocks into two parts. The 'basement' is crystalline rock, mostly gneiss and granite. On top lies a 'cover' of sedimentary rock, mostly a sandstone called Buntsandstein.

In most of the range the basement rocks are at the surface. In the north, the sandstone forms the highest hills. To the west, the land drops steeply to the Upper Rhine Graben, the lowland of the Rhine, while to the east the mountains slope away gently.

The LGRB divides the Black Forest into a crystalline basement (Grundgebirge) of mainly gneiss and granite, with Permian volcanic rocks, and an overlying sedimentary cover (Deckgebirge), mainly Buntsandstein. The basement dominates most of the range; Buntsandstein covers large areas in the north and the east of the Central Black Forest, and in the north it forms the highest elevations, the basement there being limited to a 5 to 20 km strip along the western edge between Offenburg and Baden-Baden.

The range divides into northern, central and southern parts. The southern part, the High Black Forest, is the most strongly uplifted; its highest summits are treeless, often still snow-covered in May and subalpine in character, and the LGRB describes a broad valley there that formed under the influence of a small glacier during the ice ages.

In the national park, people let the forest grow wild.

Dead trees stay where they fall. Woodpeckers and beetles live in them.

Black Forest National Park, Baden-Württemberg's first and only national park, was founded on 1 January 2014. In its core zone, nature is left to itself, and the park says the forest is slowly becoming wilder. The core zone started at just over a third of the park and had grown to just over half by 2024.

Animals that need old forests and dead wood benefit. The park reported in 2024 that the rare three-toed woodpecker's population had become stable, and that more than 440 kinds of beetles had been found. In 2026 the park grew by about 1,200 hectares, joining its two parts and linking habitats of the strictly protected capercaillie.

The national park opened on 1 January 2014 as a 'development national park' with a core zone of just over a third; by February 2024 the core had grown to just over half, with another quarter to follow by 2044 at the latest. Director Wolfgang Schlund said species depending on structurally rich forests and dead wood benefit most: the three-toed woodpecker population has stabilized, wryneck, spotted flycatcher and grey-headed woodpecker breed again, and more than 440 beetle species, including rare deadwood specialists, have been recorded.

Baden-Württemberg's government reported in April 2026 that about 1,200 ha added under a November 2025 amendment of the national park law joined the two previously separate parts, connecting habitats of the strictly protected capercaillie in the north and south and adding rare bog communities and near-natural forest.

Stay on the paths in the forest.

Dead trees can fall, so do not climb on them.

The national park reported in 2024 that it had counted between 700,000 and one million visits each year since 2019, and it offers guided tours and programs for children. In its core zone nature is left to itself, so dead trees are part of the forest.

PlayOwl's advice: stay on marked trails, keep away from standing dead trees, especially in wind, and bring warm layers, because the highest summits can still have snow in May.

The park reported 700,000 to one million visits a year since 2019, around 300 events and more than 500 booked guided tours a year, and visits by kindergartens and school classes that, with its junior rangers, reach about 10,000 children and young people a year. Its core zone is left to natural processes, so dead wood is part of the forest.

PlayOwl's own advice: keep to marked trails, avoid standing dead trees in strong wind, and prepare for cold at height; the LGRB notes that the highest summits are often still snow-covered in May.