Neckarsteig · Stage 4
Walking time as outdooractive.com states it for this stage; measured on the mapped line: 3 h 35. Climb measured on the mapped line, on terrain heights. Outdooractive.com
Closed: The steep climb above Schloss Hirschhorn is closed until further notice because a railing is broken, the trail body says, and the line here climbs it. Follow the signed detour along the cycle path. Source, read 13 October 2026
From Hirschhorn to Eberbach: 12.7 km, 3 h 55, 442 m up, 433 m down. The steep climb above Schloss Hirschhorn, at the start of the stage, is closed until further notice because a railing is broken: follow the signed detour along the cycle path.
Best season: No published season; a low river-valley trail. Touristikgemeinschaft Odenwald, the trail body, publishes no walking season, and its stage tours single out no month. The trail stays low, between about 110 and 580 m. Some services are seasonal: the NeO-BUS from Eberbach to Amorbach runs at weekends and on holidays from 3 April to 1 November 2026, and the campsite in Eberbach opens only in season. Before you go
Facts read from the guide's sources and OpenStreetMap on 13 October 2026. A page can change after we read it, so confirm with your accommodation before you rely on a date or a bed.
Stage start
Town
The old town by the Neckar, below the castle, with the Hirschhorn (Neckar) station. The trail body's list of hosts has none here: sleep in Neckarsteinach or Eberbach, which have stations on the same valley line, and come back in the morning.
A town or village: find accommodation yourself. TrailSplits has not checked what is open.
Stage end · overnight
Town
A town on the Neckar with a station. The NeO-BUS to Amorbach leaves from the station at weekends and on holidays until 1 November 2026.
A town or village: find accommodation yourself. TrailSplits has not checked what is open.
Campingpark Eberbach · Camping spot
Season 2026: 2026 dates not published
Make it your trip
Book each night with the host, on its own website or through the region's booking service, which the trail body's lists of hosts link to; the walk itself needs no booking. The lists have no host in Hirschhorn, the end of stage 3: sleep in Neckarsteinach or Eberbach, which are on the same railway along the valley, and take the train back in the morning. Mosbach has the widest choice.
The trail body's nine stages, a night at the end of each.
Plan this journeyFour stages past the castles of the lower Neckar valley, with a station at every stage end.
Plan this journeyThree stages through the Odenwald: the Wilder Waibelsberg and the Margaretenschlucht.
Plan this journeyThe last two stages, by Haßmersheim, Gundelsheim and Bad Rappenau.
Plan this journeyLoading the forecast for low point (124 m) and high point (432 m)…
Typical weather on this stage: at the lowest point (124 m) and the highest point (432 m). Select a month to see why it is rated as it is.
| Month | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Weather | Mixed | Mixed | Good | Good | Good | Good | Good | Good | Good | Good | Mixed | Mixed |
| High point, day / night | 3°/-1° | 5°/-1° | 9°/1° | 14°/4° | 18°/8° | 21°/11° | 23°/13° | 23°/13° | 18°/9° | 13°/6° | 7°/2° | 4°/0° |
| Low point, day / night | 5°/0° | 6°/0° | 11°/2° | 16°/5° | 20°/9° | 23°/12° | 25°/14° | 25°/14° | 20°/10° | 15°/7° | 9°/3° | 6°/1° |
| Rain, mm | 106 | 88 | 90 | 54 | 86 | 78 | 92 | 63 | 79 | 98 | 92 | 121 |
| Snow at high point | Possible | Possible | Frost | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | Possible |
| Daylight | 8 h 36 | 10 h 06 | 11 h 47 | 13 h 41 | 15 h 18 | 16 h 15 | 15 h 54 | 14 h 30 | 12 h 42 | 10 h 53 | 9 h 10 | 8 h 12 |
Source: TerraClimate 1991–2020 monthly averages. Averages for the area at each point’s elevation (4 km grid, corrected for height). Not a forecast or a report of current trail conditions. Snow at the high point is estimated with a simple snowpack model from these temperatures and precipitation, not observed; steep islands and high summits can hold more snow than it shows. Daylight is for the 15th of each month. Hut, transport and park seasons are separate: check them for your dates.
Before you go
Arrange your stays, food and travel first, then check conditions again near departure.
Two closed sections are on the trail on 13 October 2026, each with a signed detour: the steep climb above Schloss Hirschhorn (stage 4), closed until further notice because a railing is broken, and the Himmelsleiter down into Gundelsheim (stage 8), impassable after an earth and wall slip. The direct path from the Hinterburg to the Schadeck ruin, a side trip on stage 3, is closed too. Building work by the lock in Neckarsteinach, announced from May to about August 2026, is still listed. The notices carry no dates: read them before you set off.
Neckarsteig: current route noticesThe trail body calls the Neckarsteig demanding and in parts wild. It is not barrier-free, and bikes are not allowed. On the Wilder Waibelsberg (stage 5) and in the Margaretenschlucht (stage 7) the path is split into rescue sectors, because rescuers find it hard to reach: note which sector you are in. The Margaretenschlucht has a signed bad-weather detour.
Neckarsteig: safety notesStages 5 and 6, Eberbach to Neunkirchen and Neunkirchen to Neckargerach, are the longest, about 18 km each, and stage 5 has the most climbing: 671 m up by the trail body's tour. The official times, 3 to 5 h 45 a stage, are walking time only.
Neckarsteig: Eberbach to NeunkirchenThe ferry at Neckarhausen, across the river to the Neckarhäuser Hof on stage 3, is out of service after an accident. The trail body's boat page lists the Weiße Flotte between Heidelberg, Neckargemünd and Neckarsteinach, and boats at Haßmersheim and Bad Wimpfen; check their own timetables.
Neckarsteig: boats on the NeckarGetting there
Travel around Hirschhorn to Eberbach.
Google Maps journey searches, not confirmed services. A mountain endpoint may need a booked transfer or an additional walk.
Trains reach Heidelberg. The trail body's first stage starts at the entrance gate of the castle, above the old town.
Neckarsteig: by bus and trainThe railway along the Neckar valley stops at Neckargemünd, Neckarsteinach, Hirschhorn (Neckar), Eberbach, Neckargerach and Mosbach, so most stage ends have a station. From Eberbach, the NeO-BUS runs to Amorbach at weekends and on holidays until 1 November 2026, first from the station at 8:35; in the Neckar-Odenwald district a call taxi (Ruftaxi) also runs: call ahead to book it.
Neckarsteig: the NeO-BUSThe trail ends by Bad Wimpfen station; Gundelsheim, the end of stage 8, has a station too.
Deutsche Bahn: journey plannerTake your trip with you
Prepare each stage while you still have a connection, so the map, the stage ends and the detours stay on your phone in the forest.
Keep your route and maps on your phone for places without a signal. For multi-day trips, prepare them in the installed TrailSplits app.
Saving a bookmark is not a map download. Storage can be cleared by your device; keep a backup map for remote trips.
Route & sources
Touristikgemeinschaft Odenwald, the trail body, divides the Neckarsteig into nine stages (Etappen), from the castle in Heidelberg to Bad Wimpfen, with an official stage time for each from its own stage tours, shown beside ours on every stage. The tours add up to 126.7 km and about 38 h 25 of walking; the trail's home page says 128 km. The line here is the Odenwaldklub's route on OpenStreetMap (three section relations, from the planet of 11 October 2026): 126.3 km, cut at the nine stage ends, and every stage is within 0.6 km of the official figure. Two closed sections are still on the line, each with a signed detour: the steep climb above Schloss Hirschhorn (stage 4) and the Himmelsleiter down into Gundelsheim (stage 8). Our climb is measured on terrain heights, so short steep steps are smoothed out.
Official guidance and mapped-source comparison checked 13 October 2026. Map data is a route reference, not confirmation of today's path, weather or accommodation availability.
Touristikgemeinschaft Odenwald: Neckarsteig stagesMap data © OpenStreetMap contributors · Source relation