Hiking in and around the Eifel National Park »

The Eifel National Park and its environment is the perfect place for hiking lovers! There are all kinds of trails: from easy to hard and from short to long trails. Besides, every trail has its own uniqueness with a diversity of nature, landscapes and type of paths.

At the end of September 2020, I went to the Eifel National Park for a week and enjoyed several hikes, which I found through the outdoor app Komoot. In this article I’d like to tell you more about the hikes.

Outdoor app Komoot

For the ones who haven’t discovered the outdoor app Komoot yet, I would like to give you a small introduction. At a later time, I’ll also write an extensive article about the app.

On the outdoor app Komoot, you can find all kinds of trails for hiking, but also for other outdoor activities like biking, mountainbiking, cycling and running. The app provides trails in a diverse range of destinations which can be found on the homepage of the website. You can also use the app in other languages, but the destinations differ per language. You can download a route and use it offline during your hike, which is ideal! Furthermore, you can select the route on difficulty and the time it normally takes to hike / bike the route. During the route, you come across sights which are pointed out in the app as well.

Another possibility is to create your own route with the app. I haven’t tried this out yet, but ideal for the outdoor sporters who knows where they’d like to go to during their outdoor activity.

Hike 1: around Hellenthal

During our time in Germany, we stayed in Hellenthal, located only a 20-minute drive from the Eifel National Park. Our first hike also started in Hellenthal and on Komoot it’s called: ‘Staumauerblick – Oleftalsperre; a round from Hellenthal’.

Facts:
Start / end of the route: Hellenthal Station
Length: approximately two hours
Kilometers: 7,04 km
Upwards / downwards: 170 meters

I found this a really beautiful trail as it’s very diverse. We walked on both unpaved & paved roads, through grasslands & forests and the highlight definitely was the Oleftalsperre! It’s absolutely not a difficult route. The only place you hike a little upwards is at the beginning of the trail. The rest can be walked very easily. On your way, you’ll also walk along the Wildpark of Hellenthal. It’s nice to have a quick look at the animals which you can find from the outside of the park. I also visited the Wildpark from the inside later that week, but I’ll tell you more about my visit in another article.

In my opinion, the highlight of the route is the Oleftalsperre, which we reached almost at the end of the trail. You can see the Oleftalsperre in the above photo collage: it’s shown in the below two photos. The Oleftalsperre is a weir which was built between 1954 and 1959. The drainage-basin has a capacity of 20 million cubic meters of water and, for a part, it takes care of the drinking water in the region.

Hike 2: Eifel National Park – Vogelsang

We also decided to go into the Eifel National Park and to hike a trail here. We started a trail near the Vogelsang, where you can park your car for free at the parking place of Walberhof (close to Morsbach). The hiking trail we choose to walk, is called ‘Wegekapelle Wollseifen – NS-Ordenburg Vogelsang round from Patersweiher’ in the Komoot app.

Facts:
Start / end of the route: Parking place Walberhof
Length: two hours and 15 minutes
Kilometers: 8,13 km
Upwards / downwards: 120 meters

Just as the first hike, this trail is not that difficult to walk. Although the diversity in landscapes isn’t that big, it’s still a beautiful route to hike. After the start, you first walk a long path through a wide landscape, where after you arrive in the abandoned town of Wollseifen. Wollseifen used to be a small, remote town where the people lived from agriculture. After WWII, the inhabitants got an evacuation order from the British occupier and they had to leave. Wollseifen changed in a military training ground.

The trail continues through nature and ends at the Vogelsang IP, which complex was built as a National Socialist training camp. After WWII it became an international, military training ground and nowadays, Vogelsang IP serves as a visiting center where you can learn more about the history.

Hike 3: Around Reifferscheid

The last trail we hiked, starts in the town of Reifferscheid, located at only a driving distance of 10 minutes from Hellenthal. The starting point of the trail also is a parking place, which is ideal! The route is called ‘Soldatenfriedhof Reifferscheid – blick auf Burg Reifferscheid, round from Reifferscheid’ in the Komoot app.

Facts:
Start / end of the route: Bus station of Reifferscheid
Length: one hour and 55 minutes
Kilometers: 6,84 km
Upwards / downwards: 140 meters

Although we didn’t had the best weather on this day, I really enjoyed this beautiful hike. You walk through charming little towns, along grasslands and through a forest. During this hike, you’ll have a little bit of everything. You walk on paved roads, but also on unpaved roads. You will come across animals and you’ll have some amazing views.

This hiking trail is quite easy, but absolutely worth the walk! The start is in Reifferscheid, a picturesque town. From here, you walk towards the grasslands located in a wide environment which offer some beautiful views. After a while, you’ll arrive at the towns Hönningen and Büschem, where you walk through an go further into the grasslands. After the town of Oberreifferscheid you still have a bit of grassland and eventually there also is a little bit of forest where you hike through. You’ll end up in Reifferscheid again.

Have you ever been in the Eifel region before? Do you have other tips on nice hiking trails? I would love to hear about them!

Author: Tamara