We start our hike in Wegscheid at the parking lot on the B20. We cross the federal road and reach the hiking trail via a forest road and the bridge over the Gollradbach after about 500 m. Now we walk along a narrow forest path to the summit cross. The entire forest path is lined with roots, here you have to be careful, especially on the way back, not to slip or stumble. Most of the time the trail runs gently uphill, after the crossroads to the summit cross (summit via Teufelsbrücke or summit via Normalweg) the trail starts to climb a bit more.
We take the same way back. If we alternatively follow the normal path in the direction of Wegscheid, we no longer pass the Devil's Bridge, but after a short time we also get back to the original path.
The legend of the devil's bridge:
Long ago, the devil appeared every year at the solstice on the narrow rocky ridge above Wegscheid. He lured the young farmers and farmhands from the surrounding area with a bet:
Whoever dared to cross the narrow rock and reached the other end, he promised everlasting wealth. However, whoever fell into the depths fell directly into hell and had to serve the devil for eternity. Year after year, the devil took souls from the surrounding area, until one day a young squire from the nearby mines got involved in the bet.
To ensure his victory, the devil made it rain and storm. The squire, however, had shod the soles of his shoes with iron thorns and thus found enough grip to get over the rocky ridge. The devil, beside himself with rage, smashed his head against the rock with such force that a hole appeared in it. The squire went home victorious and prosperous. Even from a distance he could see the hole in the rock, the hole under the devil's bridge.