Hiking & Wondering

The Eifel is more than just a place for hiking—it invites you to explore and marvel. Amid rolling hills, dense forests, and expansive landscapes, unique sights unfold at every turn: striking rock formations, traces of a volcanic past, breathtaking viewpoints, and cultural highlights.

• The Basalt Trail winds around the Mühlenberg and combines an impressive volcanic landscape with fascinating regional history. Highlights include the historic millstone caves—Schwedenfeste, Borussiahöhle, and St.-Martin-Höhle—artificially created basalt caves resulting from centuries of millstone quarrying
   
• The Nat’Our Route 6 – Kammerwald Forest leads through an atmospheric, unspoiled forest with old smugglers’ trails and sweeping views all the way to Vianden. The centerpiece is the impressive Königseiche, a giant tree over 350 years old with a trunk circumference of about five meters, considered the tallest sessile oak in Germany—a majestic natural monument and a special highlight of the tour
   
• The Kurze Felspassage [07] near Obermaubach delights with impressive red sandstone cliffs, sweeping views over the reservoir, and varied forest trails. A special highlight is the forest chapel on the Mausauel—a peaceful vantage point with a magnificent panorama over the Northern Eifel and the Jülich-Zülpich Plain, which lends the tour a special atmosphere
   
• The HeimatSpur Ritter-Räuber-Römer is an eventful circular hike near Bad Bertrich through the wild Üssbach Valley, featuring narrow riverside paths and rocky ascents. The Elfengrotte is a special highlight here—a geological natural monument of volcanic origin formed by solidified basalt lava flows, whose columns, resembling stacked cheese wheels, create a mystical, legendary atmosphere in the Üßbach Valley
   
• The EifelSchleife von Sternen und Römern leads from Bad Münstereifel through diverse nature reserves to Iversheim, combining nature exploration with fascinating history. On this tour, you’ll pass the Stockert Astro-Pylon—Germany’s first freely movable radio telescope with a 25-meter mirror diameter, which can be visited on Sundays from May through October as part of guided tours and offers fascinating insights into radio astronomy
   

• The Südeifel Nature Park Hiking Trail No. 34 – Irrhausen leads through the idyllic valleys of the Irsen, Busbach, and Mannerbach rivers, combining wooded sections with open meadow landscapes. A real highlight is the “Valley of the Butterflies” in the Irsen Valley—a species-rich nature reserve with a reservoir, a small waterfall, and an extraordinary variety of butterflies, considered one of the region’s most significant butterfly habitats 
   

• The Bitburger LandGang – Schlossroute – Circular route around Malberg leads through the picturesque village of Malberg, past the idyllic Mühlenwald forest, and along the Kyll River with its impressive red sandstone cliffs.
  The centerpiece is the imposing Malberg Castle, an 18th-century Baroque castle complex that spectacularly perches on a mountain spur above the Kyll and ranks among the region’s cultural highlights
   
• The TraumpfadFörstersteig is a circular hike through stream valleys offering sweeping panoramic views of the Eifel; it leads through idyllic valleys, shady forests, and over scenic ridges with impressive views of the Maifeld, the Rhine, and the Nettetal and Nitztal valleys.
  The highlight of the tour is Bürresheim Castle, picturesquely situated on a rocky outcrop—a medieval complex later rebuilt in the Baroque style that has never been destroyed.