Spraitbach offers a range of options for a stay: recreation at Reichenbach Reservoir, designated hikes, a bike trail for adventurous cyclists and a history trail. When planning your trip, you can first decide whether recreation, hiking, cycling or local history should be your main focus.
Reichenbach Reservoir, trails and bike trail
Reichenbach Reservoir is a place for recreation. The Weberhaldenweg is a designated hiking route. Another designated hike offers a way to explore the Reichenbach Valley. This gives you both a named trail and a hike focused on the valley. Before setting off, it is a good idea to check the linked route details.
The bike trail in Spraitbach was opened for use by adventurous cyclists in May 2024 after approval by TÜV. It is a separate option for cyclists; if you plan to use it, check the latest usage information first. This makes it easy to choose between the leisure activities mentioned according to your preferred focus: recreation at the reservoir, a designated hike or a cycling tour.
Discover local history
When the new Catholic church was built in 1867, St. Michael’s Church was handed over to the Protestant parish. This is a specific, dated reference to local religious history. The history trail is intended to bring Spraitbach’s past to life and point out things that once existed but no longer do, or that now serve a different purpose. While the handover of St. Michael’s Church marks a specific historical turning point, the trail draws attention to things from the past and to changes in how places have been used.
Those interested are asked to register for the history trail and will be notified afterward. If you include this topic in your travel plans, take this process into account. These are two distinct ways to explore local history: the church’s handover on a specific date, and a trail intended to draw attention to traces of the past.
Plan your stay in the surrounding area
Nearby, Camp Waldlicht is located near Spraitbach. Bookings can be made through the booking portal for the trekking camps of Swabian-Franconian Forest Nature Park. As availability and the operating season may change, check the latest information on the portal before finalizing your overnight stay.
The Ostalb district as a wider destination
The wider destination of the Ostalb district offers cultural and hiking destinations in their own right. In the municipality of Rainau, the Upper Germanic-Raetian Limes passes through the districts of Buch, Schwabsberg and Dalkingen for about six kilometers; it has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2005. Significant sections and individual monuments of the Limes have been preserved in Limes Park Rainau. A reconstructed watchtower offers panoramic views over the Ostalb region. The Limes circular hiking trail near Rainau is about eleven kilometers long and takes approximately two and a half hours on foot. Its signposted route runs from the Limes wall and the Limes tower between Buch and Schwabsberg through the Mahdholz forest along the Limes to the southern edge of Schwabsberg.
Other regional attractions offer different experiences. Lorch Monastery was founded in 1102 by Frederick I and his wife Agnes of Waiblingen as a burial place. The complex includes a medieval church, the cloister, farm buildings and the Marsilius Tower, which offers views of the monastery complex, the herb garden, the sensory garden and the surrounding area. The permanent exhibition provides information about 900 years of the monastery’s history, including through the decorated Lorch choir books.
At the Tiefer Stollen visitor mine, a mine train passes through mineral deposits and small stalactites into sandstone halls covering an area of 2,500 square meters, 100 meters underground. A multimedia show introduces visitors to the history of iron ore mining in the Aalen area. A circular route through the labyrinth of tunnels also leads to former underground mining areas with shafts, loading stations and ore-mining chambers. Thus, the Ostalb district offers, alongside the Limes and monastic history, an underground visitor attraction that gives insight into former ore mining.
Discover more destinations: Jagstzell, Schechingen, Hüttlingen, Essingen, Adelmannsfelden, Täferrot, Rainau, Leinzell
To the overview of the wider destination: Ostalb district.
