A broad nature park in northeastern Bavaria, stretching across forested hills, river valleys, and basalt remnants along the Czech border.
Naturpark Nördlicher Oberpfälzer Wald
Naturpark Nördlicher Oberpfälzer Wald is a roughly 1,380 square kilometer nature park in the northeastern corner of Bavaria, Germany. It covers the full Landkreis Neustadt an der Waldnaab, southern portions of Landkreis Tirschenreuth, and the city of Weiden in der Oberpfalz. Together with the neighboring Naturparks Fichtelgebirge, Steinwald, and Oberpfälzer Wald, it forms a continuous belt of protected countryside along the Czech border.
The park's character is shaped by the rolling, heavily forested terrain of the Upper Palatinate Forest (Oberpfälzer Wald), broken by carved river valleys, granite ridges, and a handful of striking volcanic remnants such as the Rauher Kulm and the Parkstein basalt cone. Among its protected areas are moors near Bärnau and Georgenberg, the Waldnaabtal river valley, the Lerautal near Leuchtenberg, and old-growth forest reserves.
Beyond its natural value, the nature park plays a strong role in regional identity and low-impact tourism in the Upper Palatinate. Eleven small towns, including Floß, Flossenbürg, Georgenberg, Leuchtenberg, Moosbach, Pleystein, Tännesberg, Vohenstrauß, Waidhaus, and Waldthurn, work together as the Naturparkland Oberpfälzer Wald tourism community to promote hiking and nature experiences across the park.
