Wäller Tour Druidenstein-Wanderweg - Kirchen (Sieg)

Description

Walk on panoramic paths from the Sieg valley up to the 517 m high summit of the Windhahn and further to the natural monument "Druidenstein," just as the ancient Celts (Druids) surely did. Slightly ascending, you hike to the Kahlberg with the Otto tower - what a view! At Offhausen, you play the leading role in the landscape cinema, and further up on the Windhahn you enjoy the panorama into the Sieg valley and to the Westerwald as far as the eye can see. You pause - the mighty Druidenstein rises before you, mystical!

The Druidensteinwanderweg is maintained by the hiking friends "Siegperle" Kirchen (Sieg) e. V. (member of the German Volksport Association). Hikers who also want official scoring for the German Volksport badge can purchase their start cards directly at Cafe "Schneiders Bäckerei," Bahnhofstraße 15, Kirchen, next to the train station building for 3.00 € and receive their score stamps there after completing the hike.

Approach

Access by car is via federal highway B62 between Siegen and Kirchen. Turn into Bahnhofstraße.

Public transport

By train (RE9 - Rhein-Sieg-Express) or bus to Kirchen (Sieg) train station.

Parking

Large free P+R parking lot in Bahnhofstraße behind the Netto market (Bahnhofstraße 21) directly opposite Kirchen train station.

Directions

Your ideal starting and later end point is at Kirchen train station, where you can enjoy breakfast or a hearty lunch later. You follow the red hiking logo "Druidensteinwanderweg" across the Sieg meadows to the Freusburg mill. Over the so-called Queckhahn, our hiking trail gently ascends, offering again and again magnificent views of the Sieg valley and the town of Kirchen. Your next intermediate goal is the Kahlberg, located 405 m high. This first peak features the nearly 19 m high Otto tower and a special GeoView. The 102 steps up to the viewing platform are quickly forgotten considering what you can calmly enjoy - a unique panoramic view, especially into the Sieg valley including Freusburg and numerous important GeoPoints. Panorama info boards attached to the tower help you better determine the geography of the surroundings.

After an extensive rest, you initially continue your hike towards Weißenstein and then to the heights of the Windhahn. Attention - above Offhausen, you suddenly find yourself right in the middle of the landscape cinema! You determine the plot and roles of the film yourself - wooden benches and loungers are available for visitors. A really cozy spot to escape everyday life. Still "recharged" enough? - Then the last altitude meters to the summit of the Windhahn at 517 m above sea level won't trouble you. On the last ascent to the summit sign, you see what storms and especially bark beetles have caused here in the region in recent years. Unfortunately, only tree stumps remain of the once-dense spruce population at this site. However, this now allows a panorama view into the Sieg valley and to the heights of the Westerwald which could not be more extensive and even slightly eclipses the view from the Otto tower. You are captivated by this completely new landscape image for you and at the same time realize that you have just reached the highest point of your hike today.

From now on it goes downhill and you approach the name giver of this eventful hike, the mysterious basalt outcrop called Druidenstein, which also impressively towers before you. It has already been awarded the title "National Geotope" and here far above the Kirchener districts of Herkersdorf and Offhausen you already feel a kind of mystical power place. What exactly did the Druids really do here about 2,500 years ago, according to legend the daughter of a Celtic tribal chief named Herke was sacrificed here at the stone, whose laments in the full moon nights in the valley down in Herkersdorf are still said to be heard today? If the Druidenstein, aged between 1 and 25 million years, could speak – it would certainly tell you many exciting stories about what has happened at its foot.

After you have circled the natural highlight, explored it extensively, and let it affect you from the numerous resting benches, your hiking path meanders further downhill over a historically and even artistically designed cross path past 14 stations from the 1920s towards Herkersdorf. After a following short ascent from the Imhäusertal, you take the path towards Kirchen (Sieg).

At the beginning of the Pracht forest area, the hiking trail then leads you over a panoramic path with views of Betzdorf and Kirchen before you pass the historic millionaire villas, when Kirchen (Sieg) was still known as the "Village of Millionaires," and return to your starting point, the Kirchen train station with its adjacent gastronomic offers.

Safety instructions

• If you think certain sections of the path are not passable for you, you should avoid them. Especially in adverse weather conditions, natural paths may have muddy and slippery sections.
• Especially in autumn, be aware that fallen leaves on the ground can hide unevenness, roots, stones, or holes in the path. You must expect such path impairments when hiking.
• Although the path is very well marked throughout, you should always carry a suitable hiking map for safety reasons.

Equipment

• Wear sturdy footwear as well as weather-appropriate, functional clothing that protects you from cold and wet or heat and sun.
• Take enough liquids with you. Refreshment options are not available everywhere.
• Please wear appropriate hiking shoes for the trail that provide you with sufficient grip even on slippery and steep or rocky and uneven paths.

Tips

Play the leading role in the nature film of the Offhausen landscape cinema between Weißenstein and Windhahn and pull out your camera, cheese!

Literature

Topographic map 1:25,000, hiking in the northern Westerwald, sheet 3, State Office for Surveying and Geoinformation (LVermGeo)

Destination

Kirchen train station, Bahnhofstraße 15, 57548 Kirchen (Sieg)

Starting Point

Kirchen train station, Bahnhofstraße 15, 57548 Kirchen (Sieg)