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Directions: By car via Dreisbach, turn off ‘Nohner Straße’ onto the road ‘Auf der Schleif’, which then becomes ‘Steinbach’.
(S/E) We start at the “Steinbach” car park in front of the Fährhaus (former restaurant). From the car park, walk towards the Fährhaus.
(1) A short distance away, you will already see the ferry landing stage on the right-hand side. If the ferry is moored on the other side, simply ring the large ship’s bell at the jetty. The crossing costs €2.50 per person (as of May 2023).
Once you reach the other bank of the Saar, turn left and follow the wide path downstream.
In the first few metres, you’ll have a good view up to your destination, the viewing platform of the treetop walk.
(2) Follow the wide path until you reach the Mettlach lock. Here, turn left and cross the Saar via the road over the lock.
After the lock, turn left again. The path remains easy to walk on. You will cross two streams, the Wellesbach and the Weselbach, which flow into the Saar from the right.
(3) Shortly after crossing the Weselbach, take a sharp right onto a narrow forest path. The “Cloefpfad” leads you steeply upwards in a series of hairpin bends.
(4) After several bends, you arrive at the “Coef” viewpoint. Time to enjoy the view over the Saar Loop.
You continue hiking uphill around the stone building. The surface of the path changes; you are now on a tarmac road. However, you quickly leave this behind at a junction by turning right and follow a wider path towards the “Futterkrippe” and past the “Abenteuerwald Saarschleife”.
Follow the path to the Cloef Atrium. There you’ll find the tourist information centre, and you’ll also have the chance to stop for a bite to eat and recover from the exertions of the climb.
Continue out of the Atrium and turn right towards the entrance to the Treetop Walk (current admission prices)
(5) Now it’s time for you to enjoy nature at eye level with the treetops and, from the 42-metre-high observation tower, let your gaze wander over the incomparable landscape and, on a clear day, into the distance.
Follow the treetop walk to the exit, turn left and you’ll reach the tarmac path (Waldpromenade); cross this and, on the other side, follow a path down to the left.
You cross an open area, come to a T-junction, turn left and then right again at the next fork. You now walk a short distance along the Saar-Hunsrück-Steig.
After a gentle left-hand bend, the path rejoins the Cloefpfad; here, turn sharply right.
(6) At the next fork, keep left, then cross a road and walk past an ostrich farm on your left.
You’re now back in the woods. You’ll come to a junction; keep left and continue following the Cloefpfad downhill.
At the next junction, walk straight ahead downhill (Saarwanderweg). After a while, you cross the Cloefpfad again and continue straight ahead down the narrow path. Please be aware that we had the impression this section is used by mountain bikers. Please be careful and make way if necessary.
(7) To your right, the Kommetsteinerbach babbles along. You pass a waterfall and continue down the Steinbach valley.
At the Saarschleifen Lodge, you rejoin the road, turn right, cross the Steinbach and walk straight on past the ferry landing stage to your starting and finishing point, the car park in front of the Fährhaus (former restaurant) (S/E)
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