Bavaria
Bavaria ( ; ), officially the Free State of Bavaria (german: Freistaat Bayern, link=no ), is a state in the south-east of Germany. With an area of , Bavaria is the largest German state by land area, comprising roughly a fifth of the total lan ...
(
Germany
Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...
The Hahnenkamm is located at the southwestern border of the Franconian Jura with the foothills extending in northwestern direction. On its eastern side, it is bordered by the
Altmühl valley
The Altmühl (, la, Alchmona, Alcmana, Almonus) s.v. is a river in
artificial lake
A reservoir (; from French ''réservoir'' ) is an enlarged lake behind a dam. Such a dam may be either artificial, built to store fresh water or it may be a natural formation.
Reservoirs can be created in a number of ways, including contro ...
Hahnenkammsee. Highest point of the Hahnenkamm and the Franconian Jura as a whole is the
Dürrenberg
Dürrenberg () (656.4 m above sea level) is a mountain of Bavaria. It is the highest point of the Weißenburg-Gunzenhausen district and of the Hahnenkamm and is situated between Heidenheim and Meinheim 60 km south west of Nuremberg ...
. The largest
municipality
A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate.
The term ''municipality'' may also mean the go ...
Jura mountains
The Jura Mountains ( , , , ; french: Massif du Jura; german: Juragebirge; it, Massiccio del Giura, rm, Montagnas da Jura) are a sub-alpine mountain range a short distance north of the Western Alps and mainly demarcate a long part of the Frenc ...
, the Hahnenkamm mostly consists of
Jurassic
The Jurassic ( ) is a Geological period, geologic period and System (stratigraphy), stratigraphic system that spanned from the end of the Triassic Period million years ago (Mya) to the beginning of the Cretaceous Period, approximately Mya. The J ...
-aged
sedimentary rocks
Sedimentary rocks are types of rock that are formed by the accumulation or deposition of mineral or organic particles at Earth's surface, followed by cementation. Sedimentation is the collective name for processes that cause these particles t ...
, which were deposited in the former Tethys sea. Additionally, patchy deposits of
ejecta
Ejecta (from the Latin: "things thrown out", singular ejectum) are particles ejected from an area. In volcanology, in particular, the term refers to particles including pyroclastic materials (tephra) that came out of a volcanic explosion and magma ...
named ''Bunte Trümmermassen'' ("coloured breccia") occur, originating from the proximate Ries impact. In several springs at the mountain slopes,
tufa
Tufa is a variety of limestone formed when carbonate minerals precipitate out of water in unheated rivers or lakes. Geothermally heated hot springs sometimes produce similar (but less porous) carbonate deposits, which are known as travertine. ...
is precipitated, forming aqueduct-like channels called ''Steinerne Rinnen'' ("lithic channels"). Rarely occurring sedimentary quartzites are probably
Cretaceous
The Cretaceous ( ) is a geological period that lasted from about 145 to 66 million years ago (Mya). It is the third and final period of the Mesozoic Era, as well as the longest. At around 79 million years, it is the longest geological period of th ...
in age.
Tourism
The lake Hahnenkammsee was officially dedicated in 1977, it is part of the
Franconian Lake District
The Franconian Lake District lies south-west of Nuremberg in northern Bavaria, Germany. It was created as a result of one of Germany's largest water-management projects and was completed by the flooding of the Großer Brombachsee (" Great Bromba ...
. Proximate to the lake is a large area open to
enduro motorcycle
An enduro motorcycle is an off-road racing motorcycle used in enduros, which are long-distance cross-country, Trails, time trial competitions.
Types and features of enduro motorcycles
Enduro motorcycles closely resemble motocross, or "MX" bikes ( ...
s. Several
medieval
In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the Post-classical, post-classical period of World history (field), global history. It began with t ...
buildings and
archeological
Archaeology or archeology is the scientific study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of artifacts, architecture, biofacts or ecofacts, sites, and cultural landscape ...
sites of past fortifications can be found in the region.
Parts of the Hahnenkamm region are protected as
nature reserve
A nature reserve (also known as a wildlife refuge, wildlife sanctuary, biosphere reserve or bioreserve, natural or nature preserve, or nature conservation area) is a protected area of importance for flora, fauna, or features of geological or ...
,
geotope
A geotope is the geological component of the abiotic matrix present in an ecotope. Example geotopes might be an exposed outcrop of rocks, an erratic boulder, a grotto or ravine, a cave, an old stone wall marking a property boundary, and so forth. ...
s or protected landscape.Geotopes in the Hahnenkamm region http://www.umweltatlas.bayern.de/mapapps/resources/apps/lfu_angewandte_geologie_ftz/index.html?lang=de&stateId=4299bafb-c3cb-473d-99ba-fbc3cb573dcc