Hiking in the Eifel: Volcanic Eifel tips
Hiking in the Eifel: If you want to enjoy the good weather on a spring weekend, there is hardly anything better you can do. The volcanic Eifel impresses with rocky areas, dense forests, moderate hills, and fields as far as the eye can see.
Our chosen route even includes a waterfall! What you should still consider, you will learn today in the tips for hiking in the Eifel.
The trail
We have chosen a route that is described as “easy”, so that we can start the hiking season in peace, without directly exhausting ourselves (at least that was the plan…). With 14.1 km, the hike in the Volcanic Eifel is nevertheless a nice route for one day and we me ca. 4 hours running time given. We found it at bergwelten.de: From Niederehe via Loogh.
In fact, you start the hike at the parking lot of an old monastery and walk briskly towards the famous Dreimuhlen waterfall. By the way, parking is free in the small village of Niederehe. Directly behind the monastery there is also a restaurant where you can get something to eat before or after the hike.
If you also use the hiking description of bergwelten, make sure to rely on the description text above all. The map alone will not lead you to the right paths, as they are often more inconspicuous than one might think.
Round trip hiking tour Kerpen – Dreimuhlen – Loogh
What is exciting about the tour is that it is a pleasant round trip with the same starting and ending point. In between you pass varied paths from field paths, forest, past the waterfall and through the village Kerpen itself. This means that you can always take a rest and stop in a cafe. In Kerpen we found “Die Einkehr” very cozy and cozy. The old farmhouse from the late baroque is furnished in the country house style and offers beside cafe and restaurant even small rooms to the overnight accomodation.
Shortly before you pass Kerpen Castle, which is currently being restored and is surrounded by scaffolding (as of early April 2019).
To the Dreimuhlen waterfall itself is to be said that he really looks very beautiful with the overgrown moss walls. But of course it is a little hotspot in the region and you will meet some hikers and families there.
The most beautiful section was in my opinion the end over the Honselberg to back to Niederehe. There the view is fantastic and you pass a Wachholderschutzgebiet, which looks simply beautiful.
My tip: Bring time for hiking in the Eifel and take a break. On the Honselberg there are specially placed benches, which are perfect for that.
Our hike in the volcanic Eifel
But let’s get to the real story: How our hike in the Eifel unexpectedly became a bit more strenuous. We thought it would be enough to orientate ourselves by the map and just follow the paths. Turns out: That was not so good, because the map on the homepage is not very precise.
Admittedly my friend and I are apparently also not the most gifted survival orientation freaks. But at some point we just didn’t know anymore where we were and on which side of the river we were.
Right side? Left? Do we have to go right up the hill or left and up after the bend??
Accordingly, we walked back and forth a lot before we discovered the description of the route. So we just did an extra 6 km (and a lot of uphill, downhill). Our feet were after the almost 21 km then quite flat in the evening and we were very much looking forward to a refreshment in the above-mentioned restaurant in Niederehe. Bummer: They didn’t want to serve us there with our hiking gear. The host told us that all tables were reserved. But out of 50 tables, not a single one was occupied at that time. Well yes.
Next time it will be just the pretty Einkehr and we have learned: Always read the descriptions!