Best town to base 2 nights in Black Forest area January

I'd just keep on driving on over to Fussen to spend the night. And then drive the short distance into the Austrian Alps at innsbruck.

The Black Forest was nice on my two trips through there, but it's not the incredibly beautiful Alps that are close by to the south and east..

I, and others here, like Gengenbach quite a lot. If you're after smaller towns it may be too large for you. For me it is just the right size. Other than that it may suit. There was construction on the B33 earlier this year so would hope it is gone...

I've never been there in mid-winter but I will say when you get up onto the ridges some of the roads are quite steep, narrow and winding and surrounded by high trees. I'd be careful if it is freezing....

Triberg or Titisee

It would surprise me if any single member on the Rick Steves Germany forum members has traveled the Black Forest as extensively and frequently as Bavaria Ben has done.

Here is his list of rural accommodations for the Schwarzwald; it spans many years of travel, so some of these places may not still be operational, but many will be, and you'll get an idea of what the places and the towns are like from Ben's descriptions. Have a good look before they vanish from the web:

http://bensbauernhof.org/farmscentralbf.html

Here's a page of trip reports from Ben and others, most of which include Black Forest destinations - should give you an impression of what the small towns there are like.

http://www.bensbauernhof.org/tripreports.html

Ben's most recent trip (2017) is reported on his main page. I have also stayed at the Schönerhof in Steinach, which he mentions; it was in June, as I remember, and we had a great stay there:

http://bensbauernhof.org/

Personally, I think Gengenbach or nearby Gutach tend make for good bases. I have been to the Black Forest many times over the years, but I have only visited the Schwarzwald twice in winter, so my preferences stem largely from my fair-weather experiences there.

The fact that you will have a car doesn't necessarily mean you must drive on any outings you might take from your base. The roads may indeed be icy. And train travel in the Black Forest is free of charge in any of the KONUS towns (which Gengenbach and Gutach happen to be.)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KkgzMXQ7blQ

I will also recommend Gengenbach as a base. I stayed there in May of this year for 4 nights and absolutely loved it. It was the perfect base for the area, as it was easy to get to other places by train. And Gengenbach itself is very charming (it's not called a "chocolate box" village for nothing). It has a beautiful Altstadt and lots to see and do, including many hikes in the area.

And as Russ pointed out, if you stay there, you receive a free KONUS card that entitles you to free public transportation through most of the Black Forest. I used it to take a day trip to Strasbourg, France. Well, I was able to use it to get to the border but had to to pay a few euros past that. But it saved a lot of money in train travel.

The town also has quite a few nice restaurants. I had some excellent meals while staying there. I stayed at the Stadthotel Pfeffermühle, which was also excellent and reasonably priced (good breakfast, too!) and a quick 10 minute walk from the train station.

I forgot to mention that if you stay in Gengenbach (or even if you don't), I highly recommend visiting the Vogtsbauernhof (Black Forest Open Air Museum) which was a delight. I am so glad I went here - it was fascinating and beautiful and easily accessible by train or car. I spent hours here and really enjoyed it. https://www.vogtsbauernhof.de/en

EDIT: Sorry, I just realized you will be there in January so the Vogtsbauernhof will not be open (their season runs from March through November. But there is still plenty to see in the area!

Thanks for everyone's great suggestions.