Bavarian Forest

The Bavarian Forest (German: Bayerischer Wald [ˈbaɪʁɪʃɐ ˈvalt] ^ⓘ or Bayerwald [ˈbaɪɐvalt] ^ⓘ; Bavarian: Boarischa Woid) is a wooded, low-mountain region in Bavaria, Germany, that is about 100 kilometres long. It runs along the Czech border and is continued on the Czech side by the Bohemian Forest (Czech: Šumava). Most of the Bavarian Forest lies within the province of Lower Bavaria, but the northern part lies within the Upper Palatinate. In the south it reaches the border with Upper Austria.

Geologically and geomorphologically, the Bavarian Forest is part of the Bohemian Forest - the highest of the truncated highlands of the Bohemian Massif. The area along the Czech border has been designated as the Bavarian Forest National Park (240 km²), established in 1970 as the first national park in Germany. Another 3,008 km² has been designated as the Bavarian Forest Nature Park, established 1967, and another 1,738 km² as the Upper Bavarian Forest Nature Park, established in 1965. The Bavarian Forest is a remnant of the Hercynian Forest that stretched across southern Germania in Roman times. It is the largest protected forest area in central Europe.

The highest mountain in the region is the Großer Arber ("Great Arber", 1,456 m). The main river is the Regen, which is formed by the confluence of the White and Black Regen and flows out of the mountains towards the city of Regensburg.

Together with the adjacent Upper Palatine Forest on the far side of the Cham-Furth Depression, and the Neuburg Forest south of Passau, the Bavarian Forest forms the largest contiguous area of woodland in Bavaria and, together with the Bohemian Forest and the Sauwald (its southeastern continuation towards Upper Austria), it forms one of the largest contiguous forests in Europe.

The Bavarian Forest is drained mainly by the Regen and Ilz rivers into the Danube, a small catchment near the Czech Republic drains into the Elbe via the Moldau.

The highest mountains of the Bavarian Forest are the Great Arber at 1,456 m and the Great Rachel (1,453 m). In the eastern part of the mountains, Germany's first national park, the Bavarian Forest National Park, was established in 1970. It was expanded in 1997 and, together with the Bohemian Forest National Park (Sumava National Park) in the Czech Republic, is one of the largest protected areas in Europe.

In older cartographic and lexical works, the term "Bavarian Forest" refers only to the mountainous region of the Danube Hills, also known as the Anterior Bavarian Forest (Vorderer Bayerischer Wald) or Vorderer Forest (Vorderer Wald), between the Danube and the Regen, which has its highest elevation in the Einödriegel. The "High Forest" or Hinterer Forest (Hinterer Bayerischer Wald) between the Regen and the Bohemian border, including the mountains of the Arber, Rachel and Lusen, used to be part of the Bohemian Forest. The linguistic usage of the German-Bavarian authorities, the impact of tourism, and the presence formerly of the Iron Curtain contributed to the fact that the term "Bavarian Forest" was increasingly extended to mean the entire low mountain region on the German side of the border between Bavaria and Bohemia. As a result of political developments after 1989, most recently the accession of the Czech Republic to the Schengen area, however, there is a discernible trend to see the low mountain range on the German-Czech border as a unit, especially in terms of tourism.

Tourism is important to the Bavarian Forest. Sharing the natural environment are walkers, the forestry industry and several ski resorts. Furthermore, the Bavarian Forest is known for its glassblowing in the area of Zwiesel and is also known in the field of geoscience as a result of the fundamental station of Wettzell at Bad Kötzting.