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I have 5 days of annual leave that I need to use by the end of March, and I'd like to do some hiking in the southern Black Forest in Germany, staying in hostels/hotels.

What will the weather be like at this time of year in the Black Forest? Will it still be wintery (e.g., sparse vegetation, maybe some snow), or starting to look like spring (green, no snow)?

Or am I better off just leaving it for later in the year?

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  • I believe the Black Forest is mainly evergreen trees, so you'll see (dark) green vegetation no matter what time of year. Oct 11, 2020 at 19:58
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    Spring will be on the way, but in March that's no guarantee that there won't be snow on the ground on the days that you are there.
    – user105640
    Oct 11, 2020 at 20:44

2 Answers 2

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Ski season ends March 21 - April 5, depending on location (source).

So, there is a good chance that you will find at least some snow on the mountains. In the valleys though, everything is possible. You might see snow, or rain, or warm and sunny weather. Sometimes in rapid succession. It's called Aprilwetter.

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The "Deutscher Wetterdienst" publishes temparature data of the past here, e.g. for Feldberg which is the highest point in the Black Forest. So at least this year (2020) the temparatures at end of March have been around 0 Celcius, and you probably would have run into some patches of snow especially in higher areas and shadowy corners. But the situation may be different in the valleys where spring most likely already has started and it may be 5-10 degrees warmer.

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  • Feldberg is the highest mountain top in Germany outside the Alps so it's really not representative for the weather in the region. For example in Freiburg the termperature in late March will be in the lower 10s Celcius.
    – Hilmar
    Oct 12, 2020 at 12:12
  • @hilmar Depending on where in the Schwarzwald the OP wants to hike, the temperature will be somewhere between the one on Feldberg and the one in Freiburg.
    – nohillside
    Oct 12, 2020 at 12:23
  • Agreed but the top of Feldberg is a bit of an outlier
    – Hilmar
    Oct 12, 2020 at 13:43
  • @hilmar So is Freiburg probably, with the Rhine valley having rather moderate temparatures usually. But as I tend to say "there is no bad weather, only bad clothing choices" :-)
    – nohillside
    Oct 12, 2020 at 14:43

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