Join me on this photo hike to the Bärenhöhle (“Bear’s Cave”) near Rodalben. The hike leads to one of the most impressive caves of the Palatinate Forest. There is a small stream that rises from its interior and forms a beautiful waterfall only a few meters below. The way back leads through the idyllic Langenbach valley.

Rodalben and Brother’s Rock

From the parking lot (1), in the small city of Rodalben, the hike leads first to the Bruderfelsen (“Brothers Rock”) (2). This is the town’s landmark: two impressive rock columns that look like brothers. From above you have a good view of the city. If you want to explore the area around Rodalben a little bit more, I recommend the 45 km long trail “Rodalber Felsenwanderweg“.

Bear’s Rock and Bear’s Cave

From Bruderfelsen the path leads across the road L482 and then through the forest to the southwest – towards Pirmasens. The narrow path follows the mountain flank along several rocks belonging to the so-called “Bärenhalde”. Beautiful small waterfalls emerge here on the mossy steep slopes in spring.

About two kilometers from Rodalben, we finally reach the Bärenfelsen (“Bear’s Rock”), where you will find several absolute highlights for photographers. The Upper Bear’s Cave (“Obere Bärenhöhle”) (3) has a width of 27 meters at the opening and a depth of 37 meters. At the deepest point, a small stream emerges from the rock and flows through the entire cave.

A few meters further down, this stream forms a pretty waterfall over the edge of the Lower Bear’s Cave (“Untere Bärenhöhle”) (4). The combination of caves, streams, and waterfalls offers a lot of compositional possibilities for taking pictures. In any case, you should have a tripod for long time exposures with you. The dimensions of the two caves sometimes only come into their own when you integrate a human into the scene.

Idyllic Langenbach Valley

The way back towards Rodalben goes along the Langenbach Valley (5). The Langenbach stream meanders through lush green meadows here, creating a beautiful setting for the surrounding forests.

If my Photo-Hike to the Bear’s Cave inspired you to own photographs, please leave a comment down below and/or share this blog post with your friends. Thank you!

• PDF-Flyer for the 45 km trail “Rodalber Felsenwanderweg”: Flyer-VVR-2018.pdf
• Many interesting information about the Bear’s Cave: WestpfalzWiki
• Wikipedia entry about the Bear’s Cave: Wikipedia

Some more impressions of the Upper and Lower Bear’s Cave…

Here you can download a detailed PDF Sheet of this photo-hike for printing. It contains a description of the location and tips on how to get there. The file contains both an English and a German version.