The Salzbach, which is initially called the Kröppenbach and then the Buchbach, is with a length of around the longest tributary of the Lauter, which here in its upper reaches is known as the Wieslauter. It flows through the northwestern Wasgau, a hill range which comprises the southern part of the Palatinate Forest in the German state of Rhineland-Palatinate and the northern part of the Vosges in the French departments of Bas-Rhin and Moselle.