Our journey through geological history begins in the Brenz Valley. The varied landscape with the Brenz Valley, vast forests, meteor crater, and Wental compensates for the challenging tour. From the meteor crater in Steinheim, we can either climb to the highest point in the district in Gnannenweiler or choose the gentler but unpaved path through the Wental. The forests of the Albuch seem endless, and you only leave them briefly via Bartholomä, Birkenteich, and Irmannsweiler. On the way to the Zang clearing, you also need to pay attention and always follow the cycle path signs to choose the right route in the deep forests. Soon we will have reached the Brenz Valley again in Itzelberg. There, a relaxing break at Lake Itzelberg is definitely in order.
Wegbeschreibung
We start the Meteor&Wälder Tour at the train station in Schnaitheim, heading towards Heidenheim city center. The dark green symbol with a tree and meteor trail shows us the way. Crossing the road at Jagdschlößle, we reach the railroad crossing. There we cross Heidenheimer Straße and continue cycling along Mühlstraße. At Baindtstraße, our tour branches off to the right towards Bartholomä and Steinheim. We cross Heidenheimer Straße again and cycle up the romantic Enggasse, leaving Brenztal and the town behind us. Enggasse turns into a dirt road that branches off to the right and leads towards the connecting road to Schnaitheim. Behind us, nestled in pure nature, are the high-rise buildings of Mittelrain. Once we reach the road, we turn left and cycle towards an intersection. There, the cycle path signs show us the way. We cross the district road towards Bartholomä and Steinheim and dive into the vast forests of the Albuch. In the forest, we follow the arrows on the cycle path signs. Coming out of the forest, we come across the information boards for the Meteor Crater Circular Trail. The nearby Heiderose restaurant is a popular destination for day trippers. Below begins the Schäfhalde, a wide heathland landscape with juniper and hornbeam trees. The asphalt path now leads down into the meteor crater that gave the tour its name. Passing the Schafhof, where it is worth stopping to shop, we head towards Steinheim. To avoid the busy entrance to the town, we follow the cycle path signs to the left, passing through an underpass and the adjacent industrial and residential area to reach the main road in the town center. Passing the town hall, where we can get more information at an information point, we reach the turn-off to the Meteor Crater Museum in the district of Sontheim. If you want to learn more about the formation of the little brother of the Nördlinger Ries, plan a short detour. Back on the main road in Steinheim, we turn left a few meters further on towards Wental. Kappelstraße leads us towards Gnannenweiler. If you want to reach Bartholomä on a less strenuous but unpaved path, choose the route through the wild and romantic Wental. As hikers and cyclists meet here, consideration is required. The actual tour, however, is more athletic, continuing on the road and up to Gnannenweiler at the next junction. The climb to the highest point in the district of Heidenheim can be felt in your cycling calves. At the top in Gnannenweiler, it's time for a break to take in the view over the vast forest areas. Tall wind turbines harness the numerous winds here. We turn right towards Bartholomä. The local road turns into a gravel forest path in a very unusual way. If you still feel like cycling through the Wental valley, you can turn right in Bibersohl. Otherwise, the path passes the hunting lodge in Bibersohl at the impressive clearing in the forest and shortly afterwards leads to a fork with many paths to the right. Soon we reach the edge of the forest, turn left and shortly afterwards right again. We cycle past the ski lift towards Bartholomä. The trail leads us to the main road through the village, which we cross. We reach the village via the cycle path that runs alongside the road and then take Otto-Höflinger-Straße to Wentalweg. Here we turn right towards Wental and Birkenteich and make our way back to Königsbronn and Lake Itzelberg. At a fenced sinkhole, our tour leads us left up to Birkenteich. Once there, we turn right towards Irmannsweiler. We have reached the heart of the Albuch. Breathtaking forests surround us. We cross Irmannsweiler and dive back into the deep forests. To find the right path there, we need to pay attention to the bike path signs. At the Grenzstockhütte, we meet the crater tour coming from Nördlingen. We then cycle on and reach the Zang clearing at the edge of the forest. In Zang, we cycle a short distance along Zanger Hauptstraße into the village. Shortly afterwards, we turn right off the main road and cycle behind the houses and farms across open fields on farm tracks back towards the forest. At the edge of the forest, the crater tour leaves our route and we continue towards Königsbronn-Itzelberger See. Soon we reach the accompanying cycle path on the district road between Zang and Heidenheim. Dem folgen wir bis zum Abzweig nach Königsbronn-Itzelberger See. Dort
überqueren wir die Kreisstraße und fahren gegenüber in den Wald hinein
und auf dem Waldweg hinunter nach Itzelberg. Vorbei an der
Waldarbeiterschule erreichen wir den Ort und treffen direkt am
Itzelberger See auf den Brenz-Radweg. Nach einer erholsamen Pause am See
können wir unsere Tour auf dem Brenz-Radweg Richtung Heidenheim
fortsetzen. Im Wiesental passieren wir den Wiesenhof, der zur Einkehr
und Einkauf regionaler Produkte einlädt. Wenig später umrunden wir den
sogenannten Brünneleskopf und lassen Aufhausen links liegen. Schnaitheim
liegt nun vor uns und kurz nach dem Ortseingang sind wir wieder an
unserem Ausgangspunkt dem Schnaitheimer Bahnhof angelangt.
