Struffelt Route

I had planned the Struffelt route for today. The day started gray and wet again, but improved over the course of the morning. Right at the beginning, below Roetgen, I passed a section of the Westwall with its "Dragon's Teeth." After that, the path led a short distance through Roetgen, but quickly returned to forest. A short section was quite overgrown, but still recognizable as a path. Later, the path led me past the forebay of the Dreilägerbach Dam. A beautiful biotope has developed here. Next, I climbed to Struffelt, a nature reserve consisting of moorland and heathland. Here, I crossed wooden walkways through the landscape. Meanwhile, the sun was making an appearance. Now the path led directly down to the Dreilägerbach Dam. Overall, it was a pleasant tour.

Really nice and varied round. We walked it counter-clockwise from the Kuhberg hiking car park. Better the other way around in warm weather, because then you end up with a lot of shade. Good path quality, a part on boardwalks and a piece with gravel and forest floor. Very varied landscape.

Our little Belgium/Eifel adventure comes to an end with this beautiful, highly recommended tour. Contrary to popular belief, it's perfectly fine to bring dogs here, even if you want to hike on the wooden boardwalks. So, bringing Nala along was a good decision, because time together is always limited 🖤 My little marathon runner was on her first big trip and this time she was able to marvel at the hiking world up close and in color 💞

Beautiful tour also managed with my father. Beautiful forest passages

Our year-end hike took us to the High Fens ... long awaited and finally put into practice today. The StruffeltROUTE is a partner trail of the Eifelsteig and leads around the Dreilägertalsperre through a heath and moor landscape of the Struffelt nature reserve in the Hohes Venn - Eifel nature reserve, which is also impressive in December. The name of the NaTour comes from the Struffeltkopf, a 450 meter high hill with very nutrient-poor clay soil near Roetgen on the German-Belgian border. Due to the lack of nutrients and the high annual precipitation of approx. 1100 mm, the NSG offers a habitat for several Red List species in NRW. In addition to narrow paths and root climbs, wider gravel paths also characterize the route. The highlight for me was the unfortunately very short section over boardwalks through the Struffeltvenn. Since the NaTour is quite short at around 10 kilometers, I would go the entire route over the boardwalks on my next visit, even if this means that part of the route is doubled. The remaining part of the NaTour is characterized by three idyllic stream valleys and moats, the inlets of the Dreilägerbachtalsperre, which serves as a drinking water reservoir. At the end of the very beautiful NaTour you pass the Rakeschwiesen, which were only devastated by a tornado in 2019, and a wild boar enclosure. Behind the village of Roetgen we follow a detour of the hiking trail in two places, because shortly before our parking lot at the filter plant, two bridges over the Vichtbach were destroyed by the flood disaster in summer 2021 and have not been rebuilt since then. Finally, we pass an impressive testimony to our inglorious German history: a hump line from the Second World War, as we know it from the area around Hollerath. This anti-tank barrier (= hump line) near Roetgen is part of an extension of the West Wall from 1939. It is around 100 meters long and designed as a five-row anti-tank barrier. Today it is the only structure in North Rhine-Westphalia that crosses a stream. Over a bridge we get back to the hiking car park at the Filterwerk. My conclusion: You shouldn't just go on this NaTour once! In spring and when the heather is in bloom, it is certainly particularly attractive...

A really nice tour that has some nice places to stay 😉

✅✅✅✅☑️ Nature ✅✅✅✅☑️ Sightseeing features ✅✅☑️☑️☑️ panorama ✅✅✅☑️☑️ Field/Forest/Meadows/Paths ☑️☑️☑️☑️☑️ refreshment possibility ✅✅✅✅✅ Variety

Please excuse everyone who commented on my last tours and hasn't received a response yet, I'll catch up! I have almost no screen time at the moment and do nothing but work, hike and sleep. 🫠 The Struffelt route was mostly fantastic and was perfect for switching off completely from everyday life.☺️ 📔Eifelsteig and partner routes: https://www.komoot.com/de-de/collection/2334880/-eifelsteig-und-partnerwege