Meschede high-altitude hiking trail (M)

Stage 1From the village chapel in Erflinghausen, our hiking trail initially leads along the road in a northerly direction to the farm in Obermielinghausen. We cross this and walk approx. 2 km through a small wood and through the fields in a westerly direction to the Reiste - Freienohl road (L914). Here we first turn right and after another 300 m left. After about 500 m we reach the "Kurkölnerweg" - SGV main hiking trail X 22, on which we climb up to the village of Oesterberge.Stage 2Our hike begins at the Schützenhalle in Grevenstein. Behind the "Holländer Hof" hotel, we make several short changes of direction through the fields to a hill between the "Eimberg" and "Uchtenberg". Here we initially walk straight ahead at the crossroads and after about 300 m we come to the SGV main hiking route X 13. We follow this hiking route for about 2 km straight ahead in a northerly direction past the "Großer Schneppenberg" (486 m above sea level) and "Kleiner Schneppenberg" (443 m above sea level) to the next crossroads of hiking trails. Keep right here and walk around "Die Burg" (474 m above sea level). After approx. 3 km we reach the chapel "Am Rechenberg" (309 m above sea level). From here we have a wonderful view of the district of Berge in the Wennetal valley, the "Altes Testament" vacation area (Altenhellefeld) and the Ruhrtal valley (Olpe - Freienohl). We now walk down to the center of the village of Berge. At Olpe Straße, we turn right into the street "Zur Küchenhelle" and cross the Wenne. Before the large timber yard, we turn right through the "Jüppkenpark" to the road (L 840) to Meschede. We follow the road for about 30 m to the left and then turn left again up the new Berger Kreuzweg to the hiking trail junction "Am Halloh". Here we also meet the shortcut hiking trails (m) from Oesterberge - Calle and Oesterberge - Wallen. The chapel(further information >>) at this crossroads indicates the long cultural and religious significance of this place.Our hiking trail now leads us left to the forest and then left again down into the Ruhrauen near Wennemen. After approx. 2 km we come to the Ruhrhöhenweg - SGV main hiking route XR, which we follow to the right. After approx. 1 km we reach the Ruhr through a hollow path. We then cross a narrow bridge to reach the tennis courts on the Hagen - Meschede - Kassel railroad line. After crossing the railroad line, we leave the Ruhrhöhenweg (X R) and walk left along the Ruhrtalweg (Domänenstraße) under the highway (A 46) past the Bockum estate to the main road Meschede - Freienohl (L 743). We follow this road for approx. 150 m to the left in the direction of Freienohl and then, after crossing the L 743 and continuing to the left, we reach the Bremketal valley through an old hollow path. We then walk through the "Plastenberg" development area and initially go straight ahead into Berliner Straße. Turning left, we reach a footpath with several steps at Konrad-Arnold-Straße, which leads us to Bahnhofstraße (main street). Here we turn right and walk over the Ruhr bridge and up the "Breiten Weg" to the Freienohl market square.Stage 3We start the Meschede Höhenwanderweg trail at the market square in Freienohl and walk west along the "Breiter Weg" for about 50 m, then turn right into the streets "Twiete" and "Alte Wiese". The old Langelbrücke bridge spans the Ruhr. Our route then turns right into "Unterer Küppelweg". At the pedal basin, we immediately turn left. From here, the ascent to the 413 m high Küppel begins. On the middle Küppelweg, it is worth taking a short detour to the right to the "Queen of Peace", a statue of the Virgin Mary.On the Küppel, you should definitely climb the 25 m high viewing tower. The climb is rewarded with a magnificent panoramic view over the Sauerland, the "land of a thousand mountains". On a clear day, you can even see the Westfalen Tower near Dortmund in the north-west.From the Küppelturm, we turn east and after approx. 3 km reach the "Wennemer Höhe" (503 m above sea level) in the Arnsberg Forest Nature Park. We follow the Wennemener Höhenweg and reach the Plackweg, an old "border road", at the Enste-Knick (543 m above sea level).After another 2 km or so, we reach the Meschede-Hirschberg road (L 856), which we cross (take care when crossing this busy road) and then turn south-east. Our hiking trail leads past the television tower and after another 200 m we turn left. After approx. 1.5 km we reach the inn "Zum Stimm-Stamm" on the B 55.There used to be a border station at the "Stimm-Stamm" (540 m above sea level).We carefully cross the busy road (B 55) here and walk along the Plackweg for another 300 m to the east and then southeast through the "Greverhagen" into the Kohlwedertal to the "Josefssee". From here, we reach the Bundesgolddorf Eversberg with its old town hall and the local history museum in the historic town center after approx. 3 km, climbing slightly over the Schnettenberg.Stage 4From the Eversberg local history museum, we first walk to the market square with the old town hall. Here we turn left and walk down Marktstraße into the Luchtmücketal valley. Passing under the highway bridge (A 46), we reach the Eversberg - Wehrstapel road (K 45) after approx. 500 m. In the center of Wehrstapel, we first walk along Wehrstapeler Straße in the direction of Meschede. At the church, we cross the main road and turn left into the street "Zum Romberg".Climbing steadily, after approx. 1.7 km we reach the edge of the forest and a road below the "Kerstein". Here we turn right and go around this mountain in a slight curve for approx. 2 km until we reach a stream. After another 100 m, we cross the stream and walk uphill on its right-hand side past the source area until we reach a fork in the path at an altitude of approx. 530 m. Here we follow the forest path, which leads to a sharp fork to the right and walk about 2 km westwards below the "Vogelsang" (595 m above sea level) - Meschede's local mountain - to the forest chapel "Am Grenserich". From this path, as well as from the Grenserich chapel, you have a wonderful view of the Ruhrtal, the town of Meschede and also of the Hennesee, where you can enjoy many water sports.From the chapel, we walk downhill in several changes of direction into the valley of the Kleine Henne and, after crossing the Meschede - Schederberge road and walking through the "Sündelt", reach the district of Löttmaringhausen. In the center of the village, we first follow the road (K 43) to the right and after 150 m turn left again onto the hiking trail, which leads us uphill to the small district of Kehren. At a field barn, we turn right onto the field path and reach the Meschede - Remblinghausen/Westernbödefeld road (L 740) after about 1000 m. Take care when crossing this busy road!We then walk first to the right and after about 200 m left uphill to the district of Vellinghausen. There are various places to stop for refreshments here and in the neighboring district of Remblinghausen (approx. 2 km away). From Vellinghausen, we walk in a southerly direction to a farming community in the Horbach valley. We turn right along the road for about 500 m until we reach a hill and then walk through the fields to the district of Nichtinghausen in the southern part of the Hennesee area. After crossing the main road (B 55), we follow the road again to today's destination, the district of Erflinghausen.