Balance beams challenge barefoot hikers after their trip through the mud basin at the barefoot park in Bad Sobernheim, Germany. (Heather Benit/Stars and Stripes)
When’s the last time you walked barefoot in the mud or skipped through a grassy meadow without wearing shoes?
A Barfusspfad in Germany offers a safe place to reclaim the barefoot bliss of childhood and muck about outside on a summer’s day.
Looking for an outdoor adventure, my son and I recently decided to get our feet dirty at one of Germany’s oldest barefoot parks, Barfusspfad Bad Sobernheim, open since 1992.
The roughly 2-mile-long footpath is circular and runs along the Nahe River, crossing it twice. On one side of the river, the trail borders an active bike path and traverses a serene meadow with wildflowers. The terrain is mostly packed dirt, making it gentle on bare feet.
Foot rollers are one of the adventure and balance stations at Barfusspfad, the barefoot park in Bad Sobernheim, Germany. (Heather Benit/Stars and Stripes)
The roughly 2-mile loop trail at the barefoot park in Bad Sobernheim, Germany, runs along the Nahe River and crosses it twice. (Heather Benit/Stars and Stripes)
Balance beams and other obstacles challenge hikers traversing the roughly 2 miles of the loop trail at the barefoot park in Bad Sobernheim, Germany. (Heather Benit/Stars and Stripes)
On the other side of the river is a cluster of adventure stations with foot gymnastics and sensory experiences.
Scattered throughout the park, the stations challenge hikers with balancing beams and rotating barrels or engage in reflexology, a type of therapy that targets pressure points on the feet, with walks over wine corks, small stones or mulch.
The path kicks off by crossing a trough of knee-high murky mud. I stepped in with minimal trepidation, imagining a relaxing spa treatment with mud squishing between my feet as if I were walking in a lake.
But I was surprised to feel tiny pebbles under my feet and what seemed to be the cement foundation of the pool. It was cold and spooky yet exhilarating.
A trough of knee-high murky mud along the barefoot path in Bad Sobernheim, Germany. (Heather Benit/Stars and Stripes)
Hikers show off their feet after crossing the mud basin at the barefoot park in Bad Sobernheim, Germany. (Heather Benit/Stars and Stripes)
My young son, usually a magnet for messes, was not a fan of this part of the trail. “Yuck! So dirty,” he kept saying until the thick mud coating our legs was sloughed off as we walked through tall grasses.
Around the corner was a water pool that took off another layer of caked mud. After crossing the trough of water, the path opened up into a field with a view of the river and the rolling hills in the background.
I was moved many times by the simple pleasures of the moment: the smell of dirt under my feet, the softness of the breeze, the hum of a passing train and the brightness of yellow wildflowers.
Much of the barefoot path runs through meadows, and the packed dirt surface along the trail is comfortable to walk in bare feet. (Heather Benit/Stars and Stripes)
Expansive views line the roughly 2-mile-long barefoot path in Bad Sobernheim, Germany. (Heather Benit/Stars and Stripes)
The barefoot trail in Bad Sobernheim is scattered with balance beams and obstacles for hikers. (Heather Benit/Stars and Stripes)
Families with young children find the scenic barefoot park path in Bad Sobernheim, Germany, an enjoyable place to test their balance while strolling the loop trail along the Nahe River. (Heather Benit/Stars and Stripes)
Walking with the naked ground beneath my feet opened my senses and melted my stress faster than a yoga class ever has.
After crossing the Nahe on a bridge designed for shoeless pedestrians, we encountered more sensory stations and people slowing down to test their balance and the nerve endings in their feet.
At some stations, I stayed on the grass path to avoid the wooden boxes filled with small stones. Walking barefoot in the grass was instantly calming, but for me the rocks were too rough to be relaxing.
The many children on the path, however, raced over the various surfaces and were rewarded with two playgrounds toward the end of the route.
My son seemed to lack my foot sensitivity and enjoyed stepping on the stones and braving the tall beams on the playground.
A rope bridge crosses the Nahe River at the Barfusspfad, or barefoot path, in Bad Sobernheim, Germany. (Heather Benit/Stars and Stripes)
Hikers can pull themselves across the Nahe River in a boat to return to the entrance and beer garden at the barefoot park in Bad Sobernheim, Germany. (Heather Benit/Stars and Stripes)
Hikers take a break at the beer garden and refreshment stand along the Nahe River at the barefoot park in Bad Sobernheim, Germany. (Heather Benit/Stars and Stripes)
The final obstacle was walking single file across the moving river on a narrow swinging suspension bridge. I tried not to look down as we inched across the shaky bridge, gripping the ropes for balance.
We could have washed our feet under a water spigot at the end of the loop, but feeling giddy and free, we left the mud sticking to our feet as we ate a snack from the riverfront refreshment stand and planned our next barefoot adventure.
Scattered along the barefoot loop trail are adventure stations, where hikers can test their balance or walk on mulch, rocks and wine bottle corks. (Heather Benit/Stars and Stripes)
A map of the barefoot path, which traverses a meadow, crosses the Nahe River and is lined with activity stations on the other side. (Heather Benit/Stars and Stripes)
On the QT
Address: Staudernheimerstrasse 90, Bad Sobernheim, Germany
Hours: June, July and August, 9 a.m.-8 p.m. daily; May and September through Oct. 3, 10 a.m.-7 p.m. daily. Closed Oct. 3-May 1.
Cost: A day ticket is 5 euros for adults and 3 euros for children ages 3 to 17; children under 3 are free.
Info: There are lockers for shoes and towels, as well as a foot washing area.
Website: www.barfusspfad-bad-sobernheim.de/
