Hainich Treetop Walk

The Hainich Treetop Walk (Baumkronenpfad Hainich) in Hainich National Park is one of the best-known canopy walkways in Germany and a fine stop if you want to see an ancient beech forest from above. A 540-meter path winds through the canopy at up to 24 meters, and a 44-meter tower rises above it. It sits in western Thuringia, inside a UNESCO World Heritage beech forest, about 10 km west of the town of Bad Langensalza.

Why this treetop walk is different

The walkway is part of a national park where the beech woods are left to develop naturally, and the park belongs to the UNESCO World Heritage site "Ancient and Primeval Beech Forests of the Carpathians and Other Regions of Europe" (inscribed in 2011). You walk at the height of the leaves, with a 231-step spiral staircase leading up to a platform at about 40 meters. On clear days the view spreads over the Hainich, Germany's largest continuous deciduous forest. The European wildcat is the park's symbol animal.

The ticket also covers the exhibitions at the national park center, including an interactive "root cave" that shows what happens under the forest floor. They make a good plan B on rainy days or when the walkway closes because of storms.

Getting there from Frankfurt, Erfurt and Eisenach

By car, the walkway is about 50 km (roughly 50 minutes) from Erfurt and about 220 km (around 2.5 hours) from Frankfurt. There is a large parking lot at Thiemsburg with a flat day rate of 4 EUR for cars; the first 30 minutes are free.

By train, take a Deutsche Bahn ICE to Eisenach, Gotha or Göttingen. From Eisenach, the "Hainichbus" (line 150) runs to the walkway and connects the two UNESCO sites Wartburg and Hainich. From Gotha or Göttingen, regional trains go to Bad Langensalza, where bus connections continue. Note that regional day tickets such as the Thuringia ticket are not valid on the Hainichbus, so you buy a separate bus ticket. A combined "Welterbeticket" for 31 EUR (adults) bundles the walkway, the Wartburg, a wildcat village and bus rides for three days.

Tickets and opening hours (as of October 2026)

• Opening hours: April to October daily 10 a.m. to 7 p.m.; November daily 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., weather permitting; December and January Thursday to Sunday, public holidays and Thuringian school holidays 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.; February 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.; March 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Closed December 24 and 31 and January 1.
• Last entry: one hour before closing, and 1.5 hours before closing in October.
• Admission: adults 13.50 EUR, reduced 11.50 EUR, children 7 to 17 years 6.50 EUR, children under 7 free, family ticket 35 EUR. The price includes the exhibitions.
• Closures at short notice are possible during storms, thunderstorms, heavy rain or ice, so check the website or phone ahead.

Planning your visit

Allow two to three hours; from the parking lot it is about 350 meters to the visitor center and another 450 meters to the walkway. Autumn brings yellow and orange leaves. A media guide with audio content works in English, German, Dutch and Polish.

Accessibility, kids and dogs

An elevator takes wheelchair users and strollers up to the level of the walkway, but the tower staircase is not accessible. Dogs are not allowed on the walkway; free wooden kennels stand at the foot of the tower.