The overall shape of the massif was tectonically formed: the Kandel block rises table-like in a northwesterly direction from the plateau around Sankt Peter.

The Kandel massif is cut by deep radial valleys into mountain ridges, some rounded and some rocky.

The extensive grasslands of the southern slopes often exhibit clear thermals and are influenced by heavy thunderstorm weather patterns of the Breisgau that often arise here.

[3] The Kandel offers various leisure activities which are typical for mountainous regions, including hiking and biking trails, for example the southern part of the Kandelhöhenweg.

The route starts at the market place of Waldkirch, it is 12.2 km (7.58 mi) long and covers a difference in height of 940 m (3084 ft).

The upper part of the Kandel Rock, the so called Teufelskanzel (Devil’s Pulpit), collapsed in the night from April 30 to March 1 in 1981.

Some residents believed in a demonic origin of the rockfall as it happened in the Walpurgis Night and a broom was found in the rubble.

The geographer Werner Bätzing assumed that the reason was frost weathering which often happens during spring as water freezes and thaws alternately.

The broom belonged to Peter Rambach, a rock mechanic, who performed safety measures in the months before the collapse.