Hainich is a long, low ridge of beech forest in the middle of Germany, and it has the distinction of being one of the few places in Europe where beech trees have been left to grow old. The national park, established in 1997, covers a large part of the ridge, and its oldest stands are part of the Ancient and Primeval Beech Forests of the Carpathians and other Regions of Europe, a UNESCO listing. You notice the difference at once: tall, straight silver trunks, massive fallen logs covered in fungi, and a forest floor that smells of mould and mushrooms.
This is wildcat country. The European wildcat, shy and striped, has found a stronghold here, along with black woodpeckers, bats and a hoard of rare beetles that depend on dead wood. There is a treetop walkway at Thiemsburg, near Bad Langensalza, where a path rises into the canopy and a tower looks out over the woods. In spring the forest floor is carpeted with white wood anemones, then wild garlic, and the whole wood glows green.
Roads along the edges of the ridge are quiet and a delight to ride. They wind between villages like Mihla, Langula and Niederdorla, small places with half-timbered houses, with long, open bends and farmland views. Surfaces are good, traffic is light, and the pace is relaxed. Hills are gentle, never steep, so the ride feels like a flow through the countryside. The weather can change fast, so keep a rain jacket handy.
For supplies, the nearest real town is Eisenach, about thirteen kilometres away, where fuel, restaurants and shops are plentiful. Eisenach is also home to the Wartburg castle, where Martin Luther translated the New Testament into German in 1521 and 1522, and where Johann Sebastian Bach was born in the town below. Thuringian bratwurst grilled over charcoal is the local rider's lunch. Spring for the flowers and October for the colours are the best months, and the beech leaves in autumn glow copper.