Warzenried offers several ways to explore the area: walking and hiking opportunities with views and places to sit, cycling routes through the village, and visible remains of border fortifications. There is also the Herz-Jesu Expositur Church, with a history dating back to the 19th century. When planning your visit, you can decide whether you would rather explore on foot, by bike, or with a focus on church and regional history.

Walks and traces of the border

The Warzenried Bankerlweg offers walking and hiking opportunities in the former municipality, with views and places to sit. Along hiking trail Ek07, the Schanzgrabenweg, remnants of fortifications for border security are still visible in places at the Schanzgraben. The two trails have different focuses: the Bankerlweg emphasizes views and places to sit, while the Schanzgraben features visible traces of border security.

Those interested in the history of border fortifications will find a tangible connection to it at the Schanzgraben. The fortifications are still visible only in places; these surviving traces make the trail’s cultural and historical significance especially clear. The Bankerlweg, in turn, combines walking and hiking opportunities with the specifically mentioned viewpoints and places to sit. The two trail descriptions can therefore be distinguished by their respective focus, without suggesting that they share a route.

Cycling routes with different itineraries

Cycle Tour 2 runs from Eschlkam via Ritzenried, Unterfaustern, Neukirchen b. Hl. Blut and Warzenried to Neuschwarzau and Seugenhof, then back to Eschlkam. Neuschwarzau lies directly on the border with the Bohemian Forest. The return to Eschlkam makes it a circular route; the named places also show its itinerary.

Another route description concerns the EuroVelo Route 13: In the Bavarian Forest, it runs from Waldmünchen via Warzenried to Železná Ruda. The named endpoints are especially useful for comparing the routes. Cycle Tour 2 starts and ends in Eschlkam, while Waldmünchen and Železná Ruda are listed as places along the EuroVelo 13 route. Both descriptions place Warzenried on different cycling routes.

Church and religious traditions

The Herz-Jesu Expositur Church in Warzenried was built in 1858–1859 and extended in 1896 and 1957. Its altar area, renovated in 1997, features a stained-glass image of the Good Shepherd and colored windows. The dates show the sequence: construction was followed by two extensions, and the altar area was renovated later.

A parish report dated August 21, 2022 describes the traditional Hahnenberg petition walk of the Warzenried expositur as a route to the weather cross on Hahnenberg, held on a Sunday in August or September. The Martiniritt has a specific historical date: on November 6, 2022, 153 horses and their riders paraded through the border village of Warzenried. The two accounts represent different religious traditions; the Martiniritt is documented for that date, while the report on the petition walk gives a seasonal timeframe.

In the wider destination of Eschlkam

In Eschlkam, the Waldschmidt Association’s permanent exhibition documents Maximilian Schmidt’s life and career through personal belongings, documents, books, display panels and models. The Schwirzer monument in Eschlkam is a granite figure commemorating the Schwirzer, also known as Pascher. They smuggled goods such as tobacco, salt and oxen across the border at night. The exhibition and monument thus offer different cultural perspectives.

The trails around Drachensee also offer clearly distinct options: pedestrians can take a circular route of about 10 kilometers, while cyclists have a circular route of about 11 kilometers. Both take in not only the lakeshore but also landscape features in the surrounding area. About three quarters of Drachensee’s reservoir area lies within the city limits of Furth im Wald, and about one quarter within the municipal area of the market town of Eschlkam.

For cyclists, the approximate lengths of two loops can be compared: the circular route around Drachensee for cyclists is about 11 kilometers long. The cycling loop through the market municipality of Eschlkam covers 25 kilometers and has 480 meters of elevation gain. These figures describe different routes; the second also gives the elevation gain for the loop through the market municipality.

Art in the wider destination of Eschlkam includes the art trail on Leminger Höhe near Eschlkam. It features six works of art on the theme “Border Encounters – Paths Between East and West.” The art pavilion near Stachesried displays large-format paintings. The selection therefore extends beyond trails and landscapes to include art and regional history.

For the wider travel overview: Eschlkam.