Donkey trail - straight through the Spessart's broadleaf forests

The Donkey trail runs for a total of 111 kilometres from Schlüchtern to Grossheubach am Main, sidestepping towns and villages and cutting straight through the broadleaf forests of the Spessart. It follows the historical route on which salt was transported from Orb by caravans of donkeys weighed down by sacks of this precious commodity - hence the name of the route.

Spessart hills
"The Spessart Inn" is a film familiar to many. But very few people know that, in days gone by, this area was terrorised by highwaymen - gangs of impoverished, daring brigands who held up noble gentlemen and relieved them of their money. Today's visitors have no need to fear such unpleasant surprises. But one thing is the same as it always was - the great Spessart Forest (63,000 hectares), the largest broadleaf forest anywhere in Germany. It is a region where you can walk to your heart's content.
The Spessart-Main-Odenwald holiday region south of Aschaffenburg and Gemünden offers plenty of diversity. The Bavarian section of the Odenwald Forest south of the medieval town of Miltenberg is also part of this holiday region.
"The Nice of Bavaria" is how King Ludwig I described Aschaffenburg, whose mediterranean atmosphere he enjoyed with his mistress Lola Montez. Even if time is short, attractions not to be missed in Aschaffenburg include Johannisburg Castle with its art treasures, the 1,000-year-old collegiate church, the Pompejanum (a reconstructed Roman villa) and the Rosso Bianco Collection, the world's largest collection of sports cars.

Start: Schlüchtern
Finish: Grossheubach
Length: 111km
Federal state(s): Hessen, Bavaria
Region(s): Spessart