Pfälzer Weinsteig Stage 4: Deidesheim - Neustadt an der Weinstraße

After the ascent to the 'Meerspinnblick' shelter above Gimmeldingen, we walk along the babbling Mußbach through the Gimmeldingen Valley to the Benjental foresters' lodge. The long ascent up the 554m Weinbiet (5) begins here and brings us through pretty woods to the highest peak of the Haardt Hills north of the River Speyerbach. We can reward ourselves with something to eat at the Weinbiethaus restaurant (run by PWV, a local association) before making the final ascent to the viewing tower. The view from the top of the tower stretches across the Rhine plain and as far as the highest summits of the Palatinate Forest.

The trail carries on over the crest of the Wolfsberg mountain and down past the Bergstein natural monument (6) and across the Hohfelsen rock to the ruins of Wolfsburg Castle (7), whose small restaurant is open on the weekends. An easy path along the slope then brings us to the Scheffelwarte viewing point (8), where the descent to Neustadt an der Weinstraße begins. Passing both the Deidesheim-Temple and the Dr Welsch Terrace, we take the Haardt steps down to the historical old town and let the hustle and bustle of the town and the charming timber-framed houses enchant us.