Der Fuerstenhof

Baehnle-Tour around Kempten

by gubbi1

From Kempten you can make a tour of 40 kilometers on an old train track, where the rails are taken away and the track is rebuilt for bikers. It goes through a fantastic nature with views towards the mountains in the south. The path is in a good condition, but you can't use a race bike. A standard bike is definitely OK, a mountain bike is better.

Biking the Baehnle-Tour

by gubbi1

Between Kempten and Isny there has been a railway track for about 75 years. As in many places these very local tracks have been stopped (this one in 1982) and the rails taken away. Afterwards the old traintrack has been rebuilt as a bikepath on which this travelogues tour takes place. The trip goes from Kempten towards the Eschacher Weiher, passing the Blender with its tower then further until the track reaches the highway between Kempten and Isny. There we have to use the tunnel to get to the other side, after a short slope (300 meters) we turn left and follow the street back towards the Illervalley. Now biking to Waltenhofen and continueing to Hegge, we can cross the Iller to get back to the town of Kempten.
The whole tour has a length of about 40 kilometers with a difference in altitude of about 250 meters. It is continuesly leading up the hill. Just to get back to the Illervalley it goes downhill.
At several places there is a nice view towards the high mountains in the south, which had still snow at a height of 1600 meters the time I was biking the tour (last of April).

On the picture you can see the Eschacher Weiher (little lake) with the Blender in the background. The bike path makes a big loop here around the lake and you can see back to this place two kilometers later.

Looking back to the place where I took the first photo. You can see the Eschacher Weiher again.

This is the Blender, with the tower on top of it.

The first possible view towards the south.

At this point we cross the line which decides if the rain is flowing into the Rhine and therefore into the North Sea or into the Danube (Donau) and by this into the Black Sea. It is a big decision the water has to take...
You see, we are 937,9 meters above sea level.

Finally on top, now we almost only will have to go downhill.

Looking south at the snow covered mountains around Oberstdorf.

Back in the valley with another view on the mountains before we start the last kilometers back to downtown Kempten.