At the Obereck is the third highest

mountain A mountain is an elevated portion of the Earth's crust, generally with steep sides that show significant exposed bedrock. Although definitions vary, a mountain may differ from a plateau in having a limited Summit (topography), summit area, and ...

of the

Central Black Forest The Central Black Forest (german: Mittlerer Schwarzwald), also called the Middle Black Forest, is a natural or cultural division of the Black Forest in Baden-Württemberg in Germany. It generally refers to a region of deeply incised valleys from t ...

after the Kandel and the

Weißtannenhöhe The Weißtannenhöhe is a mountain, 1,190 or 1,192 metres high,Martin Kuhnle, ''Schwarzwald Ferwanderwege: Westweg - Mittelweg - Ostweg.'', Munich: Berverlag Rother, 2016, p. 26. in the Black Forest in Germany and the highest point in the municipal ...

. The three mountains also lie within the area designated as the

High Black Forest The High Black Forest (german: Hochschwarzwald) is a touristic and geographical region in the south-west of the German federal state Baden-Württemberg, primarily in the Southern Black Forest. History of the name The term ''Hochschwarzwald'' o ...

Location

The Obereck lies in the east of the municipality of

Simonswald Simonswald ( Low Alemannic: ''Simeschwald'') is a town in the district of Emmendingen in Baden-Württemberg in Germany. Twin towns : Worthing Worthing () is a seaside town in West Sussex, England, at the foot of the South Downs, west of B ...

above the village of Hintergriesbach. Its rounded summit or '' kuppe'' lies on a ridge that is especially sharp in the area of the

Schultiskopf The Schultiskopf lies in the highest part of the Central Black Forest and, at , is a ridge-like subpeak of the Obereck (). Description The Schultiskopf, together with its western neighbour, the Höllkopf () forms a 2.5-kilometre-long rocky r ...

, and which runs away from the main chain between the

Rohrhardsberg The Rohrhardsberg is a mountain in the Central Black Forest in southern Germany. At 1,152.1 metres (3,780 ft) above sea level, it is the northernmost summit of the elongated, north-south oriented Farnberg Plateau that has several high points ...

and

Brend The river Brend is a right-bank tributary of the Fränkische Saale ''(Franconian Saale)'', in Lower Franconia, Bavaria, Germany. It is situated in the district Rhön-Grabfeld. Its source is in Oberweißenbrunn, which is part of the town Bischof ...

descending westwards into the valley of the

Wild Gutach The Wild Gutach (german: Wilde Gutach) is a river in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It flows into the Elz (Rhine), Elz in Gutach im Breisgau. Sights and structures * Hexenlochmühle with two overshot water wheels in a ravine-like witch's hole (' ...

( Simonswälder Tal) some 700 metres lower down. It is bounded by the valleys of the tributary streams, the Griesbach to the south and the Haslachsimonswälder Bach to the north ( Kostgfäll Gorge).

Geology

Like most other mountains of the Central Black Forest, the Obereck is made from

gneiss Gneiss ( ) is a common and widely distributed type of metamorphic rock. It is formed by high-temperature and high-pressure metamorphic processes acting on formations composed of igneous or sedimentary rocks. Gneiss forms at higher temperatures an ...

es. The original

bunter sandstone The Buntsandstein (German for ''coloured'' or ''colourful sandstone'') or Bunter sandstone is a lithostratigraphic and allostratigraphic unit (a sequence of rock strata) in the subsurface of large parts of west and central Europe. The Buntsands ...

platform was eroded away during the course of the

ice age An ice age is a long period of reduction in the temperature of Earth's surface and atmosphere, resulting in the presence or expansion of continental and polar ice sheets and alpine glaciers. Earth's climate alternates between ice ages and gree ...

s. Traces of ice age glaciation, especially

cirque A (; from the Latin word ') is an amphitheatre-like valley formed by glacial erosion. Alternative names for this landform are corrie (from Scottish Gaelic , meaning a pot or cauldron) and (; ). A cirque may also be a similarly shaped landform ...

-like landforms and

moraine A moraine is any accumulation of unconsolidated debris (regolith and rock), sometimes referred to as glacial till, that occurs in both currently and formerly glaciated regions, and that has been previously carried along by a glacier or ice shee ...

s, are clearly visible on the northern slopes.

Vegetation

The original mixed forest stands have been largely replaced by

spruce A spruce is a tree of the genus ''Picea'' (), a genus of about 35 species of coniferous evergreen trees in the family Pinaceae, found in the northern temperate and boreal (taiga) regions of the Earth. ''Picea'' is the sole genus in the subfami ...

as a result of intensive

forestry Forestry is the science and craft of creating, managing, planting, using, conserving and repairing forests, woodlands, and associated resources for human and environmental benefits. Forestry is practiced in plantations and natural stands. Th ...

Tourism

The Obereck is accessible on several trails, especially through the rocky, demanding climb up the

arete ''Arete'' (Greek: ) is a concept in ancient Greek thought that, in its most basic sense, refers to 'excellence' of any kind Liddell, H.G. & Scott, R. ''A Greek–English Lexicon'', 9th ed. (Oxford, 1940), s.v.br>—especially a person or thi ...

, but is not easily linked with the nearby Kostgfäll Gorge. It is not very well known. Its heavy forestation means that the summit does not have good views and neither are there good facilities for skiers (a few pistes but no lifts). There is accommodation in the surrounding villages within Simonswald.

References

{{Reflist Mountains and hills of Baden-Württemberg Mountains and hills of the Black Forest