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To the Rachel: Peak, Chapel and Lake

Routes

Hiking trails & Routes

To the Rachel: Peak, Chapel and Lake

Moderate

4.8

(544)

2,199

hikers

To the Rachel: Peak, Chapel and Lake

03:43

11.2km

510m

Hiking

The highest mountain in the national park beckons with alpine-style trails and scenic highlights. At the Seeblick viewpoint, we catch a fantastic glimpse of Lake Rachel from above, to which we descend after crossing the summit via some steep sections. Passing the Rachel Chapel and Lake Rachel, the trail leads…

by Nationalpark Bayerischer Wald

Last updated: March 24, 2026

Tips

Your route passes through a protected area

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Nationalpark Bayerischer Wald

Waypoints

Start point

Bus stop

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2.82 km

Waldschmidthaus (1,360 m)

Highlight • Mountain Hut

The Waldschmidthaus is located just below the summit of the Großer Rachel mountain. This mountain refuge owes its name to Maximilian Schmidt, also known as Waldschmidt. The writer from Eschlkam …

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3.32 km

Großer Rachel Summit

Highlight • Summit

In a ZDF survey on the most popular excursion destinations in Germany, the Great Rachel was number 1 in the mountain category at 1,453 meters! The highest mountain in the …

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4.82 km

Rachel Chapel with View of Lake Rachel

Highlight • Religious Site

High above the Rachelsee perched on a narrow rocky outcrop, the wooden Rachel chapel. The view of Lake Rachel and the tranquil chapel invite you to take a break at any time of the year.

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6.35 km

Lake Rachel

Highlight • Lake

The Rachelsee is one of three Karseen of the Bavarian forest. It is located in the extreme north of the municipality of Sankt Oswald-Riedlhütte. On the Czech side of this …

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9.44 km

Feistenberg shelter

Highlight • Mountain Hut

If the weather is bad, take a break and have a snack or simply internalize the route on the wooden map.

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11.2 km

End point

Bus stop

Way Types & Surfaces

Way Types

6.93 km

3.89 km

225 m

132 m

Surfaces

5.75 km

4.42 km

890 m

< 100 m

Elevation

Nothing selected – click and drag below to see the stats for a specific part of the route.

Highest point (1,430 m)

Lowest point (940 m)

Weather

Friday 10 July

27°C

12°C

0 %

Additional weather tips

Max wind speed: 15.0 km/h

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Comments

December 2, 2024,Rachelrunde... runde Sache 😀

After a lot of Nordic walking in the last few weeks, we got in the car again today and drove to Gfäll.
The Rachel is a very worthwhile destination at this time of year... hmmm, apart from a friendly trail runner, we didn't meet anyone today.
The weather was fantastic and the tour was ultimately over far too quickly...but wait, …

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March 8, 2025,Vom Gfäll zum Rachel, Rachelkapelle, Rachelsee und zurück zum Gfäll

Up to the summit without crampons, then down with crampons.
The snow was sometimes easy to walk on, sometimes very slushy.
It was a wonderful tour🤩🤩

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April 27, 2024,Winterwanderung Ende April zum Großer Rachel ,mit Rachel Kapelle und Rachel See.

In fantastic weather on the big Rachel.
The amount of snow was like in winter.

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December 29, 2024,Großer Rachel 🏔❄️ vom Parkplatz Gfäll

The start of our tour, the Gfäll car park, is only accessible to private vehicles during the day in winter after the Bavarian autumn holidays. There are not many parking spaces, so you should get there early 😬
In summer, the access road is closed during the day, but you can easily reach the car park with the regularly running …

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May 26, 2024,Rundweg Auerhahn - auf den Rachel: Gipfel, Kapelle und See - 🍅's Premiere

The Auerhahn circular trail starts in Gfäll and leads constantly (sometimes very) steeply uphill to the Waldschmidthaus and up to the summit, then it goes down the back to the chapel and the Rachelsee and finally via a beautiful forest path back to the starting point!
You can't really get lost, as you very regularly encounter the yellow Auerhahn!
The …

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May 23, 2024,Tour

You have to take the Igelbus to Gfell to the starting point. The starting point cannot be reached by car except between 6 p.m. and 8 a.m. 😬

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July 5, 2024,Hoch auf den großen Rachel 👨‍👧

Today is our last day here and now we have nice weather too 😎. After climbing the highest mountain in the Bavarian Forest yesterday and having mechanical support, today we climbed the highest mountain in the Bavarian National Park on foot. We put the climb at the beginning of the tour and planned the loop past the lake back to …

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January 30, 2024,Auf eisigen Wegen zum Rachel

It was really icy... without Grödel or spikes there would have been a big dent in the fun today.
What more can I write... mega weather, great visibility and a hiker with a permanent grin on his face 😁
Oh yeah... the softshell pants were definitely too warm today 😅

Showing Translation

July 1, 2020

The highest mountain in the national park beckons with alpine-style trails and scenic highlights. At the Seeblick viewpoint, we catch a fantastic glimpse of Lake Rachel from above, to which we descend after crossing the summit via some steep sections. Passing the Rachel Chapel and Lake Rachel, the trail

Translated by Google •

July 9, 2020

Do something good for the environment and use public transport to get to your tour:
Igelbus stop Gfäll, line 601 (Rachel bus)
Igelbus service from mid-May until the end of the Bavarian autumn holidays
Timetables at bahnland-bayern.de﻿

Translated by Google •

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To the Rachel: Peak, Chapel and Lake

Waldschmidthaus (1,360 m)

Großer Rachel Summit

Rachel Chapel with View of Lake Rachel

Lake Rachel

Feistenberg shelter

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