The Kaufungen Forest (german: Kaufunger Wald) is a range of steep, wooded hills straddling the border between the states of

Hesse Hesse (, , ) or Hessia (, ; german: Hessen ), officially the State of Hessen (german: links=no, Land Hessen), is a state in Germany. Its capital city is Wiesbaden, and the largest urban area is Frankfurt. Two other major historic cities are Dar ...

and

Lower Saxony Lower Saxony (german: Niedersachsen ; nds, Neddersassen; stq, Läichsaksen) is a German state (') in northwestern Germany. It is the second-largest state by land area, with , and fourth-largest in population (8 million in 2021) among the 16 ...

in central

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 ...

. It takes its name from the town

Kaufungen Kaufungen is a municipality in the district of Kassel, in Hesse, Germany. It is situated in the narrow valley of the river Losse, surrounded by the steep, wooded hills of the Kaufunger Wald, approx. 10 kilometres east of Kassel. Geography Div ...

. The hills lie in the fork of the Rivers Fulda and

Werra The Werra (), a river in central Germany, is the right-bank headwater of the Weser. "Weser" is a synonym in an old dialect of German. The Werra has its source near Eisfeld in southern Thuringia. After the Werra joins the river Fulda in the ...

, which meet at Hannoversch Münden just to the north. They are bounded to the west and north-west by the Fulda valley, and to the east and north-east by the

Werra valley The Werra (), a river in central Germany, is the right-bank headwater of the Weser. "Weser" is a synonym in an old dialect of German. The Werra has its source near Eisfeld in southern Thuringia. After the Werra joins the river Fulda in the tow ...

. The southern boundary is less clearly defined, as the range merges into the gentler hills of the

Söhrewald Söhrewald is a municipality in the district of Kassel, in Hesse, Germany. It is located 13 kilometers southeast of Kassel. The municipality was formed by the former independent municipalities Eiterhagen, Wattenbach and Wellerode in 1970. Geogra ...

to the south-west, and climbs towards the high plateau of the

Hoher Meißner The Hoher Meißner is a mountain massif with a height of 753.6 m and is located in the '' Meißner-Kaufunger Wald'' nature park in Hesse, Germany. Geography The Hoher Meißner is densely forested and covers an area of 10 km by 5 km. ...

to the south-east. The highest natural point is Hirschberg; however the summit of Bilstein forms a much better natural viewpoint, and since 1869 has been crowned with an observation tower. The present tower was erected in 1889 and extended to its present height of in 1960; it offers panoramic views across the region. Other peaks include Mühlenstein (), Haferberg (), Langenberg (), Großer Steinberg () and Kleiner Steinberg (). The area is popular for

walking Walking (also known as ambulation) is one of the main gaits of terrestrial locomotion among legged animals. Walking is typically slower than running and other gaits. Walking is defined by an ' inverted pendulum' gait in which the body vaults ...

and especially for

cycling Cycling, also, when on a two-wheeled bicycle, called bicycling or biking, is the use of cycles for transport, recreation, exercise or sport. People engaged in cycling are referred to as "cyclists", "bicyclists", or "bikers". Apart from t ...

; an extensive network of waymarked forestry and agricultural tracks provide excellent traffic-free routes. The annua
Bilstein Bike Marathon
attracts hundreds of mountain bikers to compete in races of varying length and difficulty. In winter, the same trails are used for cross-country skiing. The main tourist centre for the area is the small town of Großalmerode. Other settlements include

(which lends its name to the range),

Helsa Helsa is a municipality and village in the district of Kassel, in Hesse, 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, a ...

and Nieste. The larger towns of Kassel,

Witzenhausen Witzenhausen is a small town in the Werra-Meißner-Kreis in northeastern Hesse, Germany. It was granted town rights in 1225, and until 1974, it was a district seat. The University of Kassel maintains a satellite campus in Witzenhausen at which i ...

and

Hessisch Lichtenau Hessisch Lichtenau ( is a small town in the Werra-Meißner-Kreis in eastern Hesse, Germany. In 2006, the town hosted the 46th Hessentag state festival. Geography Location Hessisch Lichtenau lies in the Werra-Meißner-Kreis 20 km southeast of ...

lie on the western, eastern and southern fringes respectively. The entire of the area enjoys protected status; the hills in Hesse form part of the ''Meißner-Kaufungen Forest Nature Park'', while those in Lower Saxony belong to the ''Münden Nature Park''. However, the southern part of the range may be affected by the planned extension of the A 44 autobahn from its present end in Kassel to

Eisenach Eisenach () is a town in Thuringia, Germany with 42,000 inhabitants, located west of Erfurt, southeast of Kassel and northeast of Frankfurt. It is the main urban centre of western Thuringia and bordering northeastern Hessian regions, situat ...

. The controversial extension, which has been delayed and rerouted several times on environmental grounds, is part of a national strategy to improve communications between the east and west of Germany, in the wake of

reunification A political union is a type of political entity which is composed of, or created from, smaller polities, or the process which achieves this. These smaller polities are usually called federated states and federal territories in a federal governm ...

External links

Naturpark Meißner-Kaufunger Wald
(in German)
Naturpark Münden
(in German) {{Coord, 51, 14, 44, N, 9, 45, 19, E, dim:20000_region:DE_type:mountain_source:dewiki, display=title Forests and woodlands of Lower Saxony North Hesse Hill ranges of Lower Saxony Landforms of Hesse Hill ranges of Germany Forests and woodlands of Hesse Natural regions of the East Hesse Highlands