4. Stage

Hike around the source of the River Gräfenbach to the Schwappelbruch nature reserve and the Katzenkopf mountain.

The 657 m high Ellerspring mountain, the highest peak in the Soonwald region, is located near the hikers' car park at the telecommunications tower. The trail leads from the car park and back along the northern ridge. The Glashütter Wiesen nature reserve in the Gräfenbach Valley lies in a culturally and historically important meadow landscape with imposing trees dotted throughout. At the edge of the Schwappelbruch wetlands the trail ascends to the Schanzerkopf (643 m), another prominent Soonwald peak. You can rest here in the newly-built hikers' shelter above a tobogganing run and enjoy the view of the northern edge of the Soonwald region. The trail continues east along the L239 (Ellern-Münchwald) and back along the northern side of the ridge.

The Katzenkopf nature reserve borders on a forest of ancient beech trees. On the Hochsteinchen (648 m), a rocky outcrop on the eastern edge of the Großer Soon mountain, you can climb the steel viewing tower, which is a protected structure. From here, the trail follows the steep descent to the Rheinböller hikers' hut, the end of this stage of the trail. Here in the Guldenbach Valley, the third of the Soonwald's transverse valleys, a regional bus runs daily every hour to Simmern-Stromberg-Bingen/Bad Kreuznach.