[1] The Talbach originates a quarter of a kilometre south of the village border of Engelswies, in the Inzigkofen municipality on the eastern slope of Talsberg at just 665 m above sea level in the middle of fields.

The stream sporadically emerges and disappears again, flowing through the valley section of the forest, and through the natural monument stone gutter ("Felsentäle") in the Hartwald.

The stream then continues in a westerly direction and picks up the almost equally long Annenbach from the right, at the edge of the forest.

In the corridor, the shorter Krebsbach flows out of the Hartwald into the Talbach, which is already near the northern outskirts of Menningen.

After another approximately 700 meters, it flows through the village, joining the Ablach from the left about 592 m above sea level.