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Aussicht im Vogelsberg

Volcano·GermanyGermany

Vogelsberg

773m

East Hesse Highlands

Summit weather

Philipp wiki winner · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Elevation
773m
Relief
329mabove the lowest point within 5 km
Steepest slope
13°within 1 km of the summit
Snow at the summit
Dec–AprSee month by month ↓
Summit
50.5356°N, 9.2300°E

Low mountain range in Germany

Vogelsberg is a volcano in the East Hesse Highlands (Germany). Its summit stands 773 m above sea level.

From the lowest point within 5 km (444 m), it rises 329 m.

The nearest town is Ulrichstein, 6 km away at 578 m: 195 m below the summit.

Read more on Wikipedia

Scores

Vogelsberg for skiers and climbers

Two scores out of 10, built only from open data — every part is shown. They describe what the mountain offers, not how safe it is.

Hiking & mountaineering

5.2/10

Difficulty to the top

Hike

Most path sections around the top are T1 on the SAC hiking scale.

Indicative only — never a safety assessment. Conditions change: ask local guides and check the forecast.

  • 2.5/2.563 waymarked routes and 37 path sections nearby
  • 0.0/1.50 huts and shelters
  • 0.2/2195 m of ascent from the valley
  • 1.0/1.5197 m of prominence
  • 1.5/1.512 months with summit afternoons above −5 °C
  • 0.0/1via ferratas, climbing and glaciers

Ski score

4.1/10

  • 1.0/43 km of downhill runs
  • 0.1/1.53 ski lifts
  • 0.0/1.5lift station heights not mapped
  • 3.0/36 months of snow at about 1,078 m

Runs by difficulty

  • Easy 3 km

Snow season on the slopes (estimate)

Around 1,078 m, in the middle of the ski area: snow from November to April.

  1. Jan
  2. Feb
  3. Mar
  4. Apr
  5. May
  6. Jun
  7. Jul
  8. Aug
  9. Sep
  10. Oct
  11. Nov
  12. Dec
  • Snow on the ground all month
  • Snow some of the time
  • No snow
  • This month

3 lifts · 49 km cross-country

How these scores are made

Ski (where OpenStreetMap has skiing within 12 km): up to 4 points for the length of downhill runs (300 km or more = 4), 1.5 for the number of lifts (40+), 1.5 for the vertical between lift stations (1,500 m) and 3 for the snow season — a month counts when the estimated mean temperature at the height of the ski area is −1 °C or lower and snow falls or lies there (NASA POWER, 2001–2020). Hiking & mountaineering: up to 2.5 for waymarked routes and paths, 1.5 for huts, 2 for the ascent from the valley (2,000 m), 1.5 for prominence (3,000 m), 1.5 for the season (months with summit afternoons above −5 °C) and 1 for via ferratas, climbing and glaciers. OpenStreetMap is built by volunteers: where few things are mapped, a score can be lower than reality.

Plan your visit

Stay, climb and get there

Some links above are affiliate links: if you book through them we may earn a commission, at no extra cost to you. It never changes what the data on this page says.

Snow

When there is snow on Vogelsberg

At the summit, snow from December to April (some years from November to April). Month by month below, at different heights on the way up.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Summit773 msnow from December to April (some years from November to April)
Snow on the ground all monthSnow on the ground all monthSnow on the ground all monthSnow on the ground all monthNo snowNo snowNo snowNo snowNo snowNo snowSnow some of the timeSnow on the ground all month
Ulrichstein578 msnow from December to March
Snow on the ground all monthSnow on the ground all monthSnow on the ground all monthNo snowNo snowNo snowNo snowNo snowNo snowNo snowNo snowSnow on the ground all month
  • Snow on the ground all month
  • Snow some of the time
  • No snow
  • This month

Estimate for a normal year: average temperature and precipitation from NASA POWER, carried to each height, in a simple model of snow building up and melting. In a given year snow can come earlier or stay longer. It does not replace the local snow and avalanche bulletin.

Summit weather

Vogelsberg, month by month

Not a forecast: long-term averages (1991–2020), carried up to the summit. The orange line is where an average afternoon reaches 0 °C; above the dashed blue line it freezes even at dawn.

On an average July afternoon the summit reaches about 21 °C; on January nights it falls to about -6 °C. In 2 months of the year it stays below freezing at the top even in the afternoon. In July the 0 °C line climbs to about 4,030 m, above the summit: the top thaws on an average afternoon. Across the region, April is the driest month (46 mm) and July the wettest (80 mm).

0 m1,000 m2,000 m3,000 m4,000 mSUMMIT · 773 mULRICHSTEIN · 578 mJanuary: 600 mFebruary: 820 mMarch: 1,540 mApril: 2,420 mMay: 3,050 mJune: 3,620 mJuly: 4,030 mAugust: 4,000 mSeptember: 3,300 mOctober: 2,340 mNovember: 1,370 mDecember: 760 mJanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
0 °C on an average afternoon 0 °C at dawn the summit
MonthSummit high °CSummit low °CUlrichstein high °C0 °C line (m)Rain & snow (mm)Wet daysSun h/day
January-1-6060074141.0
February0-6282056122.3
March5-361,54058134.0
April110122,42046106.2
May155163,05079136.4
June188203,62067137.1
July2110224,03080147.0
August2110224,00071126.2
September166183,30056105.1
October102122,34062133.0
November4-251,37069141.0
December0-5176078160.5

Estimate: the NASA POWER climate of a ~55 km cell (average height 372 m), adjusted to the summit by −6.5 °C per 1,000 m. Rain, wet days and sunshine are those of the region. Mountain weather changes fast — always check a local forecast. ★ = mildest months at the top.

Relief

The mountain in profile

Two cuts through the summit, 16 km long, from the 30 m Copernicus elevation model. Heights drawn 6× taller than lengths, so the shape can be seen.

West – east
773 m442 m0 km2 km4 km6 km8 km10 km12 km14 km16 kmWE
South – north
773 m445 m0 km2 km4 km6 km8 km10 km12 km14 km16 kmSN
Steepness by direction
30°N: 2°NNE: 4°NEE: 5°ESE: 4°SES: 3°SSW: 3°SWW: 4°WNW: 2°NW

Average slope of the first kilometre from the summit. The orange petal is the steepest side.

Around the mountain

Huts, lifts and trails around Vogelsberg

Counted around the summit in OpenStreetMap, the map anyone can edit. The satellite plate shows 14 × 14 km.

Vogelsberg seen from above (Sentinel-2) N 5 km

Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 (EOX, CC BY 4.0), 14 × 14 km, north up. Points © OpenStreetMap contributors.

  • —mountain huts and shelters
  • —cable cars, gondolas, chairlifts and rack railways
  • —ski areas
  • 63waymarked hiking routes

    Landgrafenweg, Europäischer Fernwanderweg E3, Vogelsberg, Nordwestweg, Baronenweg and 59 more

  • —via ferratas
  • —climbing crags and routes
  • —named glaciers
  • 20viewpoints

    Aussichtspunkt Herchenhainer Höhe, Moordblick, Am Dorfblick, Rhönblick and 16 more

  • 6campsites

    Herchenhain, Zeltlager Eckmannshain, Reisemobilstellplatz Herbstein, Reisemobilstellplatz Panoramablick and 2 more

  • 56hotels, B&Bs and chalets

    Ätna, Pension Schottenring, Parkhotel Schotten, Haus Sonnenberg and 52 more

  • 55restaurants and cafés

How hard are the paths?

37 path sections within 5 km, by SAC hiking scale (T1 easy walk … T6 difficult alpine).

T1T2T4
  • T1 hiking
  • T2 mountain hiking
  • T4 alpine hiking

Towns at the foot

  • Ulrichstein6 km · 578 m
  • Lautertal7 km · 519 m
  • Schotten8 km · 282 m
  • Herbstein8 km · 457 m
  • Grebenhain9 km · 435 m
  • Gedern12 km · 317 m
  • Lauterbach16 km · 291 m
  • Hirzenhain16 km · 294 m

OpenStreetMap is built by volunteers: a low number may just mean nobody has mapped it yet. Places © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL).

Photos

Seen by climbers and visitors

Bad Soden view
Drow69 · CC BY-SA 4.0
Burgholz und Vogelsberg von Wolfskaute 2024-05-05 (Elop)
User:Elop · CC BY-SA 3.0

Recent years

How each month compared at the summit

Afternoon high at the summit (estimate). The first row is the reference, the 1991–2020 average in °C; the years show only the difference.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
1991–2020 average-1051115182121161040
2020+2.4+3.6+0.7+2.6−0.8−0.3±0.0+2.0+1.9−0.1+1.0+0.1
2021−1.0+0.5+0.2−3.6−3.6+2.0−2.0−3.2+1.2−0.2−1.1+0.9
2022+1.6+3.1+1.5−2.0+1.9+3.1+2.9+4.6−0.7+3.2+2.1+0.3
2023+2.6+1.8+0.5−2.4+0.2+2.2+0.6−1.2+3.9+2.6+0.5+1.9
2024+0.6+4.9+2.9−0.2+1.1−0.4−0.8+1.4+0.9+1.2+0.1+0.5
2025+1.5+0.2+2.5+2.2+0.5+2.9+0.4+1.5−0.3−0.3−0.4+1.5

+1 warmer than usual −1 cooler than usual

About these numbers

Names, elevation, prominenceWikidata (Q317074) · CC0
Relief, 3D view, profilesCopernicus DEM GLO-30 · © DLR e.V., © Airbus Defence and Space GmbH, Copernicus/ESA
ClimateNASA POWER, 1991–2020 · CC BY 4.0
Around the mountain© OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL
ImagesEOX Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 · CC BY 4.0; Wikimedia Commons

Every figure is an average, an estimate or a count from a public dataset. Licences and methods: data sources.

The family

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