Titisee is the lake that every German knows, and the odd thing is that it is a very small lake. It was carved by a glacier that flowed down from the Feldberg in the last ice age, and it lies in a hollow about two kilometres long, dammed by a moraine, with forested slopes rising on all sides. The water is dark and cool, the shoreline is tidy, and a legend credits the Roman emperor Titus with the name, though most scholars suspect a less glamorous origin. A hundred years ago it was a quiet mountain spot. Today it is a summer playground with a promenade full of shops selling cuckoo clocks, cherry liqueur and Black Forest ham.
You come here partly for the scenery and partly for the show. Boat trips run across the lake in summer, with pedalos, rowing boats and steamers all competing for space, and the beach has a swimming area. In winter, the lake freezes and locals walk or skate across it. The town of Titisee is the stop for people heading to Feldberg, to the Höllental or to the cuckoo clock shops, and on summer weekends the main road clogs with traffic and coaches. Take it as it comes, and enjoy the ice cream.
For riding, the point is not the lake but what surrounds it. Heading east, the road passes through Hinterzarten, home of the Adlerschanze ski jump, and joins the B31 toward Freiburg through the Höllental, a wild gorge with a river and tunnels. To the south the B500 climbs toward Feldberg and Schluchsee, a great arc of forest roads with open, flowing bends and views across the Black Forest. In the early morning or late evening, the roads are almost empty, and the dark spruce and pale mist make a good setting. The surface is generally excellent, and speed limits are real.
Fuel is easily found in neighbouring Neustadt, about three kilometres away, where the stations and supermarkets are better than in the tourist strip. In Titisee itself there are plenty of cafés and restaurants, and the classic order is a slice of Black Forest cherry cake, made with cherries, kirsch and cream.
Come outside the school holidays, and walk around the lake on the shaded path to see how it looked before the souvenir shops arrived.