Neustadt in the Black Forest has none of the lakeside bustle of its neighbour Titisee, and it is better for it. This is a working mountain town of about twelve thousand people on the Gutach river, with a solid church, a market square and a railway station where the Höllentalbahn from Freiburg arrives after its long climb. The line was an engineering feat when it was built in the nineteenth century, winding up the Höllental gorge with a steep rack section in its early decades, and the station is a handsome reminder of the days when the railway was the great modern invention.
The town has a long tradition of watchmaking, and the neighbouring village of Lenzkirch was home to one of the largest clock factories in the Black Forest in the nineteenth century. The local museum shows the craft, along with the wider history of the region. Above the town, the Hochfirst ski jump is one of the biggest in Germany, with a hill size that attracts competitors every winter, and a summer tour lets you stand at the top of the in-run and look down, which is dizzying.
For riders, Neustadt is a handy base for exploring the southern Black Forest. The roads leaving the town run in all directions over wooded ridges and past high farms, with a good mix of fast sweeps and tighter sections. Heading west, the B31 drops through the Höllental, a deep, narrow gorge with steep walls and a river far below, with tunnels and bends that need care in the wet. To the south, quieter roads climb toward Lenzkirch, Bonndorf and the Wutach gorge, where the landscape opens into fields and woods. Traffic can be heavy on summer weekends, particularly on the main roads, so side roads are better if you have time.
Neustadt has fuel, supermarkets and plenty of places to eat. A bakery counter with a slice of Black Forest cherry cake and a coffee is a good start, and a traditional inn will offer smoked ham, a hunk of dark bread and a glass of local beer. If you want the lake, Titisee is only a couple of kilometres away.
Snow can arrive early here, so check the weather in autumn and spring. In summer, the cool air and shade of the forest are a relief from the heat of the Rhine valley.