Großer Rachel

At 1,452 metres, the Große Rachel is the highest summit in the Bavarian Forest National Park and second only to the Großer Arber in the entire Bavarian-Bohemian border range. The national park — founded in 1970 as Germany's first — protects extensive old-growth forest remnants around the summit, including stands of deadwood spruce, raised bogs, and mountain forest left entirely unmanaged for decades. The ascent from the Zwieslerwaldhaus car park takes around two hours through progressively open high forest, arriving at a summit plateau with clear-day views across the Bohemian Forest and the pre-Alps to the south. In winter the area is accessible by cross-country ski trails and snowshoe routes, with the nearby Kleiner Rachel reachable via a short connecting ridge.