The best running trails in Rohrbunner Forst

The crypt chapel is visible from afar. Unfortunately, it can only be viewed from the outside; a visit inside is not possible.

A very beautiful crypt chapel above Mespelbrunn, accessible from above via a fantastic trail. Unfortunately, you can only view it from the outside. There's no access.

The "St. Martin" Church in Heimbuchenthal is designed in the Rococo style and was built in 1757. It was completely restored in 2003.

A great place to take a break. If the weather turns bad, you can find shelter in this hut. A small poster on the hut provides information about Wilhelm Hauff. There's also a wooden Spessart robber memory game for children.

Unfortunately, the Echterspfahl restaurant no longer exists. It was a nice place to stop and have a rest.

The Basilica of St. Mary of the Snows can only be reached on foot on a comfortable path with a gentle incline from the Mespelbrunner Schlossallee. There are parking spaces at the castle. A second, albeit strenuous, option is to park at the Mespelbrunn hiking lodge, then cross the state road and a steep forest path leads from there to the chapel. At the little church, a large flight of stairs leads into the interior - and at the same time opens up a fantastic view over the Elsava valley. The crypt chapel was built as the burial place of the count's family in 1874/1875 by Count Friedrich von Ingelheim. Similar to the large Echter epitaph in the Hessenthal pilgrimage church, the crypt chapel is also decorated with a crucifixion scene with the Savior and Mary and John under the cross.

The crypt chapel of St. Maria Schnee was built in 1874 by Friedrich Damian von Ingelheim and is a smaller replica of a romantic, two-towered basilica. A wonderful view over Mespelbrunn awaits you here. From here, a detour to Mespelbrunn Castle is worthwhile.

The Echterspfahl is a prominent point on the ridge of the Eselshöhe in the Spessart. Here the Eselsweg, an old trade route that is now a long-distance hiking trail, runs north-south and crosses the old east-west post road from Würzburg to Frankfurt am Main, today's state road 2312. It is historically documented that this prominent point was a meeting place for hunters and drovers of the archbishops and electors of Mainz when the forest belonged to the Electorate of Mainz. When the territory passed to the Kingdom of Bavaria, the Bavarian forestry authority set up a forestry office here. This was the border of the Bavarian state forest to the forest property of the descendants of the Echter family, today's Counts of Ingelheim. The forester at the Echterspfahl soon received a license to serve his guests food and drinks. This is how the "Echterspfahl" excursion restaurant was created, which has unfortunately been closed since the end of 2019. The name "Echterspfahl" goes back to a legend according to which three brothers of the Echter family worked as robber barons in the nearby Odenwald. Pursued by the troops of Emperor Barbarossa, they retreated to the Spessart and settled in three different places for security reasons. From time to time they met at this striking location for meetings and tied their horses to a post that was provided with three metal rings. These three rings are also said to have been the origin of the Echter family's coat of arms, which shows a white, diagonally left bar, in many depictions also diagonally right, in a blue shield, which is covered with three blue rings. The coat of arms with the three blue rings is now part of the coat of arms of the district of Aschaffenburg as well as part of the coat of arms of the municipalities of Mespelbrunn and Dammbach.