Spessart, Low mountain range in Bavaria and Hesse, Germany.

Spessart is a low mountain range of rounded summits in Bavaria and Hesse, its slopes covered by the largest continuous area of mixed deciduous forest in Germany, mainly oak and beech. The main ridge runs about 75 km from Miltenberg north to the Schlüchtern area, with summit heights between roughly 450 and 586 m; the highest point is the Geiersberg. The range covers about 2,440 km², of which 1,710 km² lie in Bavaria.

The name Spessart appears in records as Spehteshart in 839 and as Speshart around 1000, derived from Specht (woodpecker) and Hardt (hill forest). In the Middle Ages the Hochspessart, with around 70,000 hectares of forest, was protected from logging as a hunting preserve. In the 18th century some scholars proposed a Latin origin, spissa et ardua silva, meaning dense and difficult forest.

The name is recorded in 839 as Spehteshart, from Specht (woodpecker) and Hardt (hill forest). In the 18th century scholars instead read it as Latin spissa et ardua silva, "dense and arduous forest". The Hochspessart's roughly 70,000 hectares of woodland were kept from logging in the Middle Ages as a hunting preserve.

The nature park offers several thousand kilometers of marked hiking trails and numerous cycling routes along the Main. Visitors should prepare for changing weather conditions, as the valleys are often cooler and damper than the ridges.

The geological foundation consists of a Bunter sandstone layer that has supplied quarries in the region for centuries, used in building churches and houses. Some parts of the forests contain trees over three hundred years old.