North Rhine-Westphalia walks

Set off to explore the North-Eastern Hautes Fagnes plateau from Roetgen, where the Vesdre, Eschbach and Steinbach rivers flow, feeding the northern branch of the Eupen Dam – which serves as both a drinking water reservoir and a hydroelectric power station. Kutenhard is the area of the Fagnes where the Eschbach has its source. The Steinbach, a tributary of the Eschbach which you will cross twice, rises a little further east in the Imgenbroicher Venn. Forests, heathland and peat bogs form the main theme of this circular walk. Reinhartzhof is a former hamlet consisting of a few farms, situated on the pilgrimage route between Trier and Aachen. First mentioned inthe 14th century, it was forced to cease its livestock farming activities to preserve water quality following the construction of the Vesdre dam. The Vesdre diversion canal serves the same purpose: to protect water quality should pollution be detected in the built-up area of Roetgen.

The hike takes you on a long tour of the Obersee, the central part of the Rursee complex, which consists of three stepped lakes and three dams. The Obersee is located between the Urftsee and the Rursee itself.Located in the heart of the Eifel National Park, the Rursee guarantees magnificent landscapes. In addition to lakes and forests, this hike takes you through moorland to the ghost village of Wollseifen, with its St. Roch Church and school museum.Located near the large Nazi elite training centre in Volgelsang, Wollseifen was heavily damaged by bombing during the Second World War and then completely razed by the British army to make way, just after the war, for the Vogelsang military training camp, which,since the withdrawal of British and then Belgian troops from Germany, has been converted into a memorial centre.

A beautiful family trail with interactive stations such as a wooden organ or basketball hoop, plenty of seating and sweeping views, which leads along a mixture of beautiful narrow paths and slightly wider trails.

The historic Muttental Mining Circular Walk passes not only the Hardenstein Castle ruins on the banks of the Ruhr but also the Nachtigall Colliery. Here you’ll find a museum with an interesting exhibition.

The last stage of the Cologne Trail will remain unforgettable for many hikers. On its long journey from Cologne through the Bergisches Land and the Westerwald, the Cologne Trail leads to Himmerich, which offers wonderful views. After that, the trail approaches its last and perhaps most beautiful sections. We wander along beautiful forest paths through the Siebengebirge and can make a detour to the Löwenburg. Finally, we visit the Drachenfels and hike through the famous Nachtigallental valley to Königswinter.

The section between Leuscheid and Marienthal Monastery offers many highlights. We hike through a hilly landscape on a wide, tree-lined path. Again and again, new and surprising views open up before us. Behind Ehrentalsmühle, we have a slightly longer climb through the forest to Ückertseifen, but we are rewarded for our efforts with a view of the Hammer Ländchen. Passing the Wunderbuche (miracle beech) near Birkenbeul, we finally climb the Beulskopf with the Raiffeisen Tower. Along the edge of the forest, we pass Hilgenroth, reach another beautiful forest and finally Marienthal with its former monastery.

On this hike, we leave Herchen on the Höhenweg trail above Siegtalstraße. On narrow paths and through deep gorges, over narrow bridges and through numerous hairpin bends, we hike high above the Sieg to Herchen railway station. Here we cross the Sieg and climb uphill again. Soon we find ourselves high above the river again. We have to tackle another steep climb before we reach Schneppe. On the way to Kuchhausen, we can make a detour to an impressive basalt crater. The hike ends in Leuscheid.

This section of the Cologne Trail differs significantly from the previous sections. In Winterscheid, we reach the heights of the Nutscheid and only have one climb to tackle before reaching Altenherfen. We walk along wide forest paths and enjoy magnificent views of the mountains beyond the Siegtal valley, the Westerwald and the Siebengebirge mountains. Only after Altenherfen does the Cologne Trail descend into the valley, before we have to climb steeply again behind Rieferath. Our varied hike ends in Herchen, a climatic health resort in one of the most beautiful spots in the Siegtal valley.

This route first takes us into the dreamy Naafbach Valley. On ascending paths, we cross Deesem, enter a large forest area, hike to the Wahnbach and reach Neunkirchen. There, the Church of St. Margareta is worth a visit. Via Ingersau, we reach the Bröltal valley. Behind Winterscheiderbröl, we tackle another strenuous climb before arriving at St. Servatius Church in Winterscheid.

On this walk, you’ll experience the traces of mining at the Hoppenbruch and Hoheward spoil heaps, as well as on the site of the former Ewald colliery, first-hand.

We hike along beautiful paths over the Lüderich, which has an eventful mining history, pass the winding tower of the Franziska shaft and skirt Hoffnungsthal. Later, we pass a grain distillery in Hofferhof, hike through the valley of the Kupfersiefer Bach and reach a viewpoint behind Oberschönrath with a view of the Cologne Bay and the Siebengebirge mountains. Via the Gammersbacher Mühle mill and the picturesque half-timbered village of Muchensiefen, we reach Kreuznaaf on the Naafbach stream.

The long-distance hiking trail opens up the Königsforst, the southern Bergisches Land, leads through the Westerwald to the monasteries of Marienthal and Marienstatt and into the Kroppacher Schweiz, one of the most charming areas of the Westerwald. We hike through Hachenburg and the Hoher Westerwald and reach the highest point of the Cologne Trail at 567 metres on the Marienberger Höhe. An impressive basalt park near Bad Marienberg and the Stöffel Tertiary Industry Adventure Park near Stockum-Püschen explain the importance of basalt mining. We will be transported to the unique cultural landscape of the Westerwald Lake District near Dreifelden and pass through Metteshahner Schweiz to Neustadt (Wied). On the last section, we will hike to the Drachenfels and Königswinter.

Königsforst is the name of the stop where tram line 9 ends in Cologne-Rath-Heumar, and this is where the Cologne Trail begins. The markings for the Cologne Trail, a white K on a black mirror, which we see for the first time at this point, will guide us safely through the southern Bergisches Land and the Westerwald for 253 kilometres to Königswinter. We first stroll through a park-like landscape, then through unspoilt forest. On wide, gently ascending paths, we pass a water treading pool, the Kaisereiche oak tree and cross the former Bensberg-Rösrath railway line, hiking through the quiet Wahlbach valley until we reach Lehmbach and Sülze via the Tütberg.

Up close and personal with the Sieg A varied tour with numerous scenic highlights and sights. The seventh stage is a little more strenuous than its predecessors, but very adventurous. Over hill and dale, up and down, with magnificent views of the Sieg river and Windeck Castle. • Beautiful routes along the Sieg • Adventurous route along many narrow paths, otherwise riverside, forest and meadow trails • Finish at the Sieg waterfall in Schladern

This tour takes you around the Dhünn Dam, Germany’s second-largest drinking-water reservoir, in the Bergisches Land.The Bergisches Land does not take its name from its landscape, as one might suppose, but from its former rulers, the Dukes of Berg.

This walk starts in Remscheid-Lüttringhausen, near the A1 motorway, crosses the Herbringhausen Dam, follows the Herbringhausen Stream to the River Wupper and back, circles round Herbringhausen, then follows a figure-of-eight route back up to the dam and returns to the starting point. Parts of the route follow the Röntgenweg and the Wuppertal Circular Walk.

The route takes you through Muttental and Bommerholz, partly along the so-called Mining Trail, which offers small, museum-like insights into mining, down to the Hardenstein ruins on the River Ruhr and back to the starting point.

From Biesfeld around the Wiesenberg, via Hommerich to Oberheiligenhoven at the LVR Lindlar Open-Air Museum.

A lovely circular walk through the Siebengebirge, with plenty of trails, from Margarethenhöhe over the Großer Ölberg, past the Rosenau and Milchhäuschen, over the Schellenberg and Geisberg, past Jungfernhard, over the Erpelntalskopf to Löwenburg and back to Margarethenhöhe. A must for walkers who enjoy plenty of woodland and distant views.

A walk through the Westruper Heide, a nature reserve and Westphalia’s largest area of dwarf shrub heathland near Haltern am See, and through parts of the Haard, a hilly landscape of sandstone in the Hohe Mark Nature Park, north of Recklinghausen.

In the Siebengebirge, the route runs from Oberdollendorf via the Rosenau ruins and the Großer Ölberg, past the Milchhäuschen and Drachenburg, through the Nachtigallental to Königswinter and back along the Rhine to Dollendorf.

Over the Weilberg with its disused basalt quarry and through the Felsenmeer on the Stenzelberg, to the Petersberg.