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Now is the perfect weather for bike tours and Kaiserslautern County has various bike trails with sites along the route to offer. One is the Lautertal-Weg, Lauter Valley Trail, which leads along the Lauter Creek from Kaiserslautern to Lauterecken. It is suitable for families with children, since it has only a few uphill slopes. The route is 40 kilometers long, but it can be driven in different sections. Along the route there are several train stations, where the Lautertal train can be boarded on an hourly basis. Follow the yellow pictogram with the bicyclist and the three red fish. Sometimes the bike trail stops and continues on the federal street.
The Kaiserslautern-West Train Station near the garden fair area can be the starting location. Lautertal-Weg goes along B270 to the Otterbach train station. Those who are interested in motorcycles can stop to visit the motorcyle museum, which is located in a former church on Konrad-Adenauer-Strasse leading to Otterberg. The museum is open 10 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. and 1:30 to 5 p.m. Sundays and German holidays.
From the train station, the route leads to Sambach. Here turn right up to the sports field and back on B270 to the village sign, where the actual bike trail continues until Katzweiler. Here, turn into Ziegelhütter Strasse to be back on the bike trail. In Bachstrasse, the biggest mill wheel of the Pfalz can be admired.
Before reaching the Bonanza Ranch horse stables, the railroad tracks have to be crossed and then to the right, the route leads to a pond with a playground.
Continue on to the left of B270 to Hirschhorn and Olsbrücken. The local Protestant church was built in 1884/85 by the Jewish professor Ludwig Levy who also helped build the former government building, Reichstag, in Berlin.
After biking on B270, then on K27, and back on B270, the Lautertal trail goes to Kreimbach-Kaulbach. Here on Kreimberg hill, a local association erected a viewing station to overlook the area. At the end of the village, cross railroad tracks again before getting back on the regular trail. Ride in direction Rutsweiler, which is known for having one of the oldest churches in the Pfalz region. It’s a Roman building with a Gothic tower.
Pass Rossbach, then the train station in Wolfstein and move on to the center. Wolfstein has a lime mine, which is open 1 to 6 p.m. Sundays and holidays, March to November. The “Kalkbergwerk am Königsberg” is an industrial monument. You also can check out the castle ruins of Altwolfstein and Neuwolfstein.
The next villages are Oberweiler-Tiefenbach, Heinzenhausen and Lohnweiler. Here go through the underpass to the village center, turn right onto Mühlackerstrasse and drive on to Lauterecken.
There are several possibilities now: ride in direction Kusel or Meisenheim, board the train to get back to the beginning of the trip, or take a break to explore the town. There are the remains of a former castle and the Lauter bridge from the 17th century. With its five arches it belongs to the oldest and nicest bridges of the Pfalz.
For details and a map, visit www.vg-otterbach.de. Click on Touristik, and under Downloads click on “Broschüre Lautertal-Weg.”
