Taunus Nature Park

The Taunus Nature Park (German: Naturpark Taunus) (until December 2012 called the High Taunus Nature Park or Naturpark Hochtaunus[1]) is a nature park in Central Germany with an area of 134,775 hectares (1347.75 km²) in the Central Upland range of the Taunus. It is one of two Hessian nature parks in the Taunus and the second largest nature park in Hesse.

Taunus Nature Park
Naturpark Taunus
Panorama of the High Taunus from the Eastern Hintertaunus
LocationZweckverband „Naturpark Taunus“

Hohemarkstr. 192
61440 Oberursel

http://www.naturpark-taunus.de
Nearest cityFrankfurt, Gießen, Limburg, Wetzlar, Wiesbaden
Coordinates50°11′N 8°18′E
Area1347.75 km²
Established30 May 1962

Location

The Taunus Nature Park stretches across the counties of Hochtaunuskreis, Lahn-Dill-Kreis, Limburg-Weilburg, Main-Taunus-Kreis, Wetteraukreis and Gießen. Its boundaries are identical with these counties except that, in the west, it is bounded by the A3 motorway, in the north roughly by the Lahn valley (but extends between Runkel and Weilburg over the Lahn into the Westerwald)[2] and in the east by the A5 motorway. In the south it ends where the Main-Taunus Foreland between Frankfurt am Main and Wiesbaden begins. The park borders in the west on the Rhine-Taunus Nature Park.

The nature park covers the eastern half of the natural region of the High Taunus. This is where the main ridge of the Taunus runs with the highest peak in the range, the Großer Feldberg (881.5 m). Also part of the park and north of this ridge is the much larger Eastern Hintertaunus. Another part of the park is the Anterior Taunus, a narrow strip south of the ridge that descends to the Rhine-Main Plain. The original name of the park, "High Taunus", was thus not really accurate.

Fauna

The High Taunus is sparsely settled and densely covered by coniferous forest. In the Eastern Hintertaunus, deciduous woods dominate. Characteristic of the Taunus with its rolling to high mountain relief are extensive scattered orchards, which occur mainly in the Anterior Taunus and on the eastern slopes facing the Wetterau.

Weil valley
Großer Feldberg

Sights

Various

Viewing towers

There are several observation towers in the nature park on prominent mountains and hills:

(Name, Height in metres (m) above sea level (NHN), Location; Height from [3] unless otherwise stated; alphabetically sorted)

See also

References
  1. Artikel Kein Hoch vorm Taunus – Der Naturpark Hochtaunus heißt ab sofort Naturpark Taunus… aus Frankfurter Neue Presse (FNP), auf www.fnp.de vom 3. Dezember 2012
  2. ADAC-MaxiAtlas Deutschland 1:200.000
  3. Map services of the Federal Agency for Nature Conservation
  4. zur Höhe des Großen Feldbergs siehe in dessen Artikel den Abschnitt Höhe

Literature
  • Theodor Arzt, Erich Hentschel, Gertrud Mordhorst: Die Pflanzenwelt des Naturparks Hochtaunus. Institut für Naturschutz Darmstadt, Schriftenreihe Vol. IX, Issue 1, Darmstadt, 1967
  • Gudrun Schirrmann: Wanderung im Naturpark Hochtaunus, Stuttgart und Hamburg 1981
  • Eugen Ernst: HB Naturmagazin draußen "Naturpark Hochtaunus", Hamburg, 1983
  • Zweckverband "Naturpark Hochtaunus": Parkplätze und Rundwanderwege im Naturpark Hochtaunus, Frankfurt, 1988
  • Ingrid Berg, Eugen Ernst, Hans-Joachim Galuschka, Gerta Walsh: Heimat Hochtaunus, Frankfurt am Main, 1988, ISBN 3-7829-0375-7
  • Alexander Stahr, Birgit Bender: Der Taunus-Eine Zeitreise, Stuttgart, 2007, ISBN 978-3-510-65224-2
  • Stefan Jung: Wandern im Naturpark Hochtaunus, Frankfurt, 2009, ISBN 978-3-7973-1136-8
  • Eugen Ernst: Der Taunus - Ein L(i)ebenswertes Mittelgebirge, Frankfurt, 2009, ISBN 978-3-7973-1146-7
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