Goldsteig emergency & health guide: hospitals, Bergwacht, 112 and 116 117

Emergency numbers

Mobile signal is patchy in the forests, in deep valleys and near the Czech border, where your phone may switch to a Czech network; 112 still works on any network. Tell your host where you are going and carry a charged phone, a map or GPX track and a head torch.

Rules to know

• Bavarian Forest National Park (stages N15 to N18): sleeping outside the huts and marked tent sites is forbidden, and so are fires and smoking, drones, bathing, feeding animals and cycling off marked cycle routes. Take all litter home.
• Stay on marked paths (Wegegebot) to protect the capercaillie: in the national park core zone from 16 November to 14 July, and around the Arber and the Dreisessel from 1 November to 30 June. The Goldsteig itself stays open all year.
• Camping: wild camping needs the landowner's permission. Use campsites, the free national park tent site at Scheuereck (1 April to 15 November, maximum 2 nights) or the Goldsteig trekking sites, which must be booked online (one night, usually 15 euros per tent).
• Huts: the Falkenstein and Lusen huts take overnight guests only from May to the end of October and only with a booking. In 2026 the Waldschmidthaus on the Rachel is closed for renovation and has no beds.
• Dogs: allowed on the Goldsteig, but in the national park they must be kept on a lead, and they may not enter the walk-through animal enclosures (signed detours exist). Dogs cannot sleep in the rooms of the Falkenstein hut.
• Dead wood: in the national park fallen and dying trees are left in place. Leave the forest in strong wind and watch for falling branches.
• Bikes: the Goldsteig is a hiking trail and many sections in nature reserves and the national park are closed to cycling.
• Borders: the trail touches Czechia and crosses about 8 km of Austria on stage N21. There are no routine checks, but carry an ID card or passport.

Before you go, check the current closures and detours on the Goldsteig "Wegemeldungen" page (goldsteig-wandern.de). In 2026 Burg Leuchtenberg is closed to visitors, and from 14 June 2026 the railway from Regensburg (Obertraubling) to Passau is closed for about six months with replacement buses. Many hosts give you the free GUTi guest card for buses and trains in the Bayerwald-Ticket area; Igelbus buses serve the national park trailheads and BAXI on-demand buses the Oberpfälzer Wald.

Nearest hospital for each stage

Hospitals

Pharmacies, cash and supplies

• Pharmacies: Marktredwitz, Neuhaus, Tännesberg, Oberviechtach, Furth im Wald, Bayerisch Eisenstein, Mauth, Passau
• ATMs: Marktredwitz, Friedenfels, Neuhaus, Furth im Wald, Passau
• Shops: Marktredwitz, Neuhaus, Tännesberg, Oberviechtach, Bayerisch Eisenstein, Hauzenberg, Passau
• Bus stops: Marktredwitz, Friedenfels, Falkenberg, Neuhaus, Letzau/Oberhöll, Leuchtenberg, Tännesberg, Oberviechtach, Rötz, Furth im Wald, Schönbuchen, Eck, Großer Arber, Bayerisch Eisenstein, Mauth, Philippsreut, Haidmühle, Breitenberg, Hauzenberg, Passau

Germany has a duty-pharmacy rota (Notdienstapotheke): outside shop hours one pharmacy in each area stays open at night and on Sundays. Find it with the Notdienstsuche on aponet.de or blak.de, or read the notice on any pharmacy door. The larger towns on or near the route (Marktredwitz, Windischeschenbach, Neustadt an der Waldnaab, Oberviechtach, Waldmünchen, Furth im Wald, Hauzenberg and Passau) have pharmacies; the huts, Eck and Herzogau have none, so carry a first-aid and blister kit.

Pharmacies, ATMs, shops and stops: © OpenStreetMap contributors. Hospitals and health centres checked online.