Schwarzwald Lodge

Hi. I'm Markus.

You're in a clearing with trees on three sides and a creek below the deck. On a still morning the only thing you'll hear is woodpigeons. That's the whole point of this place.

A few things up front:

• There's no WiFi here. Mobile signal is patchy too, one bar at the kitchen window, full bars if you walk five minutes uphill toward the road. Download offline maps and anything else you need before you turn off the main road.
• The wood stove heats the cabin. Wood is under the tarp on the left side of the deck. I've already laid a fire in the stove for you, you just have to light it. Read the wood stove section before dark.
• Three or four nights works best here. Shorter and you don't really unwind; longer and the hot water tank starts to grumble.

That's enough housekeeping. Put your phone face-down and have a look around.

The cabin sits in a clearing 4km off the Hinterzarten road. Watch for the small wooden sign carved with "Schwarzwald Lodge" on a left-hand bend. The unpaved track starts there.

📍 Hinterzarten is the nearest village (8km). The train station is the easiest landmark to navigate to first, then your sat-nav can pick up the cabin coordinates from there.

By car: the last 200m of track is gravel and unpaved. Take it slow, especially in winter when ice hides in the ruts. Park on the flat area beside the woodshed, not on the slope.

By train + taxi: Hinterzarten station from Freiburg in about 35 minutes (S1 direction Seebrugg). From the station, 📍 Bäckerei Haas Hinterzarten is two doors down for a coffee while you wait. Taxis to the cabin run €18 and the driver knows the track.

Snow tyres are required from November to April. If you're in a hire car without them, message me before leaving the village; the last kilometre after fresh snow is no joke.

Check-in is anytime after 3pm.

The last 200m of track is gravel. Take it slow, especially in winter when ice hides in the ruts. Park on the flat area beside the woodshed, not on the slope.

Punch the code into the keypad beside the door. The hash key sends it, don't skip it.

If you arrive after dark, the porch light is motion-sensitive and takes about five seconds to come on. Stand still for a moment; it'll find you.

The fire is already laid in the stove. Read the wood stove section before you try to light it. Two minutes of reading saves an hour of frustration.

Wood stove (the important one)

The stove heats the whole cabin. A good fire running by 6pm means you're warm by 8pm.

• Open the damper: the left lever on the side of the stove, all the way up toward you
• Lay two split logs in a loose teepee in the firebox
• Push one handful of kindling underneath them
• Light from the bottom with the long matches on the mantel
• Close the door, but leave the damper fully open for 5–10 minutes, until you can see the smoke drawing up cleanly
• Close the damper halfway once the fire is properly established; the cabin will hold heat for hours

One rule: don't close the damper all the way while there are embers. Carbon monoxide is invisible and odourless. If you smell something strange, open a window first, ask questions later.

Hot tub

The timer dial is in the small cupboard beside the back door. Turn it clockwise to start a 90-minute heating cycle. You'll hear the pump kick in. The tub takes about 45 minutes to reach temperature from cold.

Top up the water level if you can see the jets sticking out above the waterline. The hose is coiled on the hook by the deck rail. No bubble bath, ever. It wrecks the filter and I'll cry.

Hot tub off after 11pm (see House rules).

Propane stove

Push the knob all the way in, hold it, click the igniter. Count to three before releasing the knob, so the safety pin has a moment to catch. If it doesn't light first time, wait thirty seconds and try again.

• Quiet hours: 10pm to 8am. The deer and whatever-else-lives-here are the neighbours, and sound carries strangely in the forest. Other cabins are closer than you think.
• No fire outside the fire pit. Not on the deck, not on the grass. The fire pit is the stone circle at the bottom of the garden steps.
• Hot tub off after 11pm. Arrangement with the nearest property about light pollution. They've been good neighbours, we keep it.
• Smoke detector chirping? It's the loft one, on a 9V battery. A chirp every 60 seconds = low battery, not fire. Message me, I'll sort it, don't stand on the bed trying to reach it.
• Trash bag inside, always. Bears are real here and they can smell a yogurt cup from 200 metres. The bin is the sealed metal one by the fireplace, not the wicker one. Use the lid.

A few things we can arrange if you'd like them. None are required.

Extra firewood, €15 per load

A full wheelbarrow of dry split logs, brought up the day you ask. Plenty for two more evenings on top of what's already stacked.

• How to request: WhatsApp Markus by 4pm the day before
• Pay: Cash on delivery

Guided forest walk, €40 for up to 4 people

A two-hour walk through the upper trails with me. The kind of route a sat-nav doesn't know about. Pace set by the slowest in the group.

• How to request: Message me two days ahead with how many you'll be
• Pay: Cash at the start of the walk

Sauna heating, €25

The barrel sauna behind the woodshed isn't switched on by default. If you'd like it warm by the time you arrive (or one evening during your stay), I'll fire it up.

• How to request: Message me by midday the day you want it
• Pay: Added to your booking, or cash on departure

Check-out is by 11am.

• Leave at least 5 split logs stacked beside the fireplace for the next guests. A small thing that means everything to whoever arrives at dusk and finds the woodpile empty
• Dishwasher on and running, fridge empty, stove cold
• Close the damper on the wood stove, but only once the embers are completely out, not before
• Trash and recycling: take it all with you. There's no on-site dumpster. Bags go in the boot of your car and into the bins at the village car park on your way out.

Lock the front door and leave the key inside. The code lock handles it from outside. You don't need to message me; the lock logs the exit.

Tap any name for the map.

Groceries: Rewe Titisee, 12 km / 18 min. Mon–Sat 7am–9pm. Closed Sundays (German law, not an oversight). Stock up Saturday if you're here for the weekend.

Bakery: Bäckerei Haas Hinterzarten, 8 km. Opens 6am. Locals queue at 6:30 for the Bauernbrot. Buy an extra one; it keeps two days wrapped in the linen cloth in the kitchen drawer.

Trail head. 400m down the track from the cabin, through the wooden gate (not the wire one).

• Blue path: easy 5 km loop, 90 minutes, good for kids.
• Red path: up the ridge, half a day, serious boots. Outstanding at the top.

Dinner: Gasthaus Hirschen Feldberg, 20 km. Order the Maultaschen and whatever wild mushroom dish is on the board. Book ahead in July and August. Tell them you're staying in the forest; corner table.

Extra firewood. The woodyard at the edge of Hinterzarten sells by the wheelbarrow (map). €8 a load. They're used to cabin guests turning up.

Markus, your host. WhatsApp: (demo only). German and English, usually reachable until 11pm. For anything to do with the stove, the hot tub, or a noise you can't identify, message first, I'll call back within minutes.

Frau Brenner, neighbour. (demo only). She lives in the red-roofed house 400m down the main track and has a key to the property. If something goes properly wrong and you can't reach me, she's the person to knock on.

Quick numbers

• Emergency (EU): 112
• Universitätsklinikum Freiburg (hospital), about 55 minutes by car. Hugstetter Str. 55, 79106 Freiburg
• Adler-Apotheke Titisee-Neustadt (pharmacy with weekend hours), Sat 8:30am–1pm, closed Sun. Seestraße 12, 79822 Titisee-Neustadt. Sunday on-call rota: (demo only)
• Tierarztpraxis Feldberg (vet), (demo only). Mon–Fri; out-of-hours via the regional on-call at (demo only). Save it if you've brought a dog