The Volzemer Steine are a geological highlight and fascinating natural monument in the northern Black Forest. The stones, a sea of rocks on the Dobel, are also known as the “Champagne Stones”. They can be reached via various hiking trails such as the Engel-Weg-Dobel, the Waldhistorischer Erlebnisweg, Annis-Abenteuerweg and the Westweg. For those who want to delve deeper into the topic of “stones and geology”, the GeoTour Dobel offers an outdoor adventure where the topic is brought closer to the whole family with exciting exploration tasks and research questions.
The summit village of Dobel lies on a 700 m high mountain with an old pass road. The wide, almost fog-free high plateau between the Alb and Enz valleys is a real island of sunshine and a vantage point. It is not only a popular hiking destination in summer, but also offers opportunities for winter hikes, cross-country skiing and snowshoe hikes in winter. Geologically speaking, the Dobel belongs to the “Grinde”, a partially boggy red sandstone ridge. On the “Dreimarkstein-Dobel” section of the Pforzheim-Basel Westweg trail, you can discover the sea of rocks known as the Volzemer Steine. These used to be called “crystal sandstones” as their surface glittered strikingly.
Anyone who comes across the rocks in the middle of the forest is amazed, because discovering such rocks on what is actually flat terrain is impressive. But why are there such mighty boulders in this flat environment, some of which are standing and others lying down?
The Volzemer Steine are fragments of former rock faces that were formed by geological processes such as faulting and erosion. Water penetrated the rock through fissures, froze in winter and broke open the rocks. They broke and remained on the site. These boulders, some of which are upright and some of which are scattered, are made of middle red sandstone with quartz crystals that make the rock glisten in the sun.
The Volzemer Stones belong to the main conglomerate of the Middle Bunter Sandstone. According to the new geological map, the Large Volzemer Stone is assigned to the “crystal sandstone” subformation and the Small Volzemer Stone to the scree sandstone. They were formed around 250 million years ago in the Triassic period. In the past, millstones were made from the fine-grained rock. The blanks were hewn from the rocks and finished on site. Unsuccessful millstones, so-called “burr stones”, could often only be reworked into smaller millstones. Because of their resemblance to millstones from Champagne (France) and their sparkle in the sun, they were called “champagne stones”. The millstones from the region had good grinding properties and were economically important.
The GeoTour Dobel offers an exciting opportunity to learn more about the geological features of the region. Exploratory tasks and research questions turn the tour into an educational outdoor experience. Topics such as rock castles, boulder heaps, boulder seas, shifting boulders, scree sandstone and slab sandstone are explained in a clear way. A GeoBox for €12.50 and the GeoKompakt brochure are available from the Bad Herrenalb tourist information office and supplement the tour with additional knowledge about geology.
We recommend wearing sturdy shoes with a good profile and outdoor clothing suitable for the weather. A rucksack with food and drink may also be useful. The tour passes various geological and historical points, including:
Dobel is also rich in different tree species, including fir, spruce, pine and the “American” Douglas fir. This diversity contributes to the unique atmosphere of the area and makes a visit to the Volzemer Steine and Dobel an unforgettable nature experience.
https://acrobat.adobe.com/id/urn:aaid:sc:US:3cf48364-a5e7-4c08-8930-8dc3e8ede6ec
https://www.dobel.de/freizeit-tourismus/ausflugsziele/naturdenkmal-volzemer-steine
https://www.albtal-tourismus.de/tour/geotour-dobel-85e818ac91
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