It is a circular route of more than 300 km largely running within the Palatine Forest-North Vosges Biosphere Reserve often on scenic secondary roads.
The German Shoe Road includes the following way stations: Alzey, Wendelsheim, Nack, Bechenheim, Nieder-Wiesen, Kriegsfeld, Unterthierwasen, Bastenhaus-Dannenfels, Marienthal, Falkenstein, Enkenbach-Alsenborn, Hochspeyer, Johanniskreuz, Hauenstein, Dahn, Busenberg, Fischbach, Eppenbrunn, Trulben, Pirmasens, Walshausen, Rieschweiler-Mühlbach, Wallhalben, Mittelbrunn, Landstuhl, Miesenbach, Altenglan, Aschbach, Lauterecken, Meisenheim, Fürfeld, Wonsheim, Wendelsheim, Alzey Near Pirmasens the German Shoe Road divides into various branches that link e.g. Rodalben and Waldfischbach-Burgalben as well as Lemberg.
After many shoe factories in Germany closed or transferred their manufacturing overseas in the wake of globalisation, the German Shoe Road was not widely advertised and was one of less well known tourist routes by the early 21st century.
Almost all other sections of the German Shoe Road run along waterways in the region.
In the area of Pirmasens these include the Schwarzbach Queich, Wieslauter, Saarbach (with its Mühlweiher reservoir at the Saarbacherhammer), Rodalb and Merzalbe.