Trail Name: Besen Tour
Trail Type: Medium distance cycling circuit; well-maintained and much of it paved surface, fairly good marking along the trail.
Length: 36.5 kilometers/ 22.5 miles
Convenient to: Karlsruhe, Pforzheim, or Heilbronn, Germany
Marking: A white square metal plaque with a broom and the words “Besen Tour”
Trail Description: This wine-themed circuit, focusing on wine taverns, covers a fair amount of territory in a corner of Baden-Wuerttemberg, where the Baden wine region meets the Wuerttemberg wine region. Hills and dales, creeks and ponds, town and country, fields and forest, make this a popular trail with weekend bikers, who take advantage of the wine taverns along the way!
Trailhead: Amthof, Oberderdingen
Parking:
Sternenfels: Eichendorffstr and Kraichweg (Freibad), both Wanderparkplatz (free, long term parking)
Kuernbach: Austrasse, at the very end, a Wanderparkplatz
Oberderdingen: Am Stadion
Public Transportation Options:
Rail: No rail service to these towns. Closest train stations with bus connections are Muehlacker, Bad Schussenried, Eppingen and Bretten. See https://www.bahn.de/p/view/index.shtml
Bus: Lines servicing this area are HNV (Heilbronner-Hohenloher-Haller Nahverkehr), and KVV Karlsruhe Verkehrsverbund)
Suggested Stages: N/A
Trail Itinerary-Reference Points: (Counterclockwise)
Oberderdingen: Brettener Str/L1103-Am Stadion; Grossvillars: Ziegelhuette, Im Klott, Freudensteinerstr; path through fields, past Bernhardsweiher, through forest, past Kraichsee; Sternenfels: Schlattweg-Brettener Str-Heilbronnerstr/L1103; along wood line, through woods, then fields; Leonbronn: Theodor-Storm-Str, Ernst-Neubauer-Str, Zaberfelder Str, Friedhofstr, Burgstr; Ochsenburg: Suedstr-Eppingerstr, through forest; Muehlbach: through outskirts; Sulzfeld: Ravensburg, Lindenstr, Hauptstr, Hintere Str, Ochsenburger Str; fields and forests; Kuernbach: Austr, Bachstr, Kronenstr, Lowenstr, Leiterstr; past Oelmuehle, along Kraich creek; Oberderdingen: Sternenfelser Str/L1103
Representative Trail Photos:
Restrooms: None observed
Attractions on or near Trail: None observed
Tasting along the Trail:
Many wineries and taverns (Besen) along the way
Alternative Options:
Hiking: Kuernbach’s Weinberg-Tour, a short (5 kilometer/3 mile) walk through the vineyards surrounding the town of Kuernbach.
Additional Information:
Regional: https://www.enzkreis.de/Wirtschaft-Tourismus-Kultur/Freizeit-Tourismus-Kultur
Trail specific: http://www.xn--radsden-q2a.de/Radwege/Besen-Tour
Comments:
A great bike trail, with lots of scenic variety, wine, and shade!
Note: “Besen” means broom in German. In many German wine regions, a “broom” of sorts, often decorated with flowers or ribbons, hangs outside a wine tavern entrance, to indicate that it is open for business!