Nature Experiences
Nature makes you happy.
Hearing the silence. Let your gaze wander far. Family experiences together. Grounding the senses. This and much more is possible during a stay in the wonderful nature of the Schmallenberger Sauerland. A wide variety of offers invite you to discover small or large animals, colourful flowers, stately trees and swinging landscapes.
Cyril's path
The calm after the storm
With an incredibly destructive force, Hurricane Kyrill redrew the contours of the region in early 2007. Within one night, it devastated more forest in the Sauerland than any storm ever before. 16 million solid cubic metres fell in NRW, 4 million in the Hochsauerland.
In order to make Kyrill's consequences visible and tangible for years to come, the rangers of the NRW Forest and Woodland Rangers have created the Kyrill Trail Ski Jump on the Rothaarsteig by hand. On an uncleared storm-damaged area of storm-damaged timber in the state forest, hikers can experience the "force of nature in complete peace" over narrow steps and under fallen trees over a length of about one kilometre. The landmark of the path, which is also highly interesting for children, is "the ship's bow" on a splintered tree
The Cyril trail is located in the small Schmallenberg district of Schanze and begins at the newly built ranger station. The Landesbetrieb Wald und Holz NRW offers guided hikes by appointment for a wide range of target groups (Contact: Forestry Office Upper Sauerland 02972 9702-0 or Ranger Fred Josef Hansen 0171 5871651).
Forester's and lumberjack's trail
Discover the secrets of the forest
A total of 17 stations over a distance of 4.5 kilometres reveal all kinds of information about the "secrets of the forest". The foresters' and foresters' trail vividly explains the complex ecosystem of the forest with its many different functions and shows the importance and use of the valuable raw material wood. Whether charcoal-burning, monoculture or logging - topics from yesterday and today, from ecology to forestry are taken up and even a small "forest worker museum" is part of the trail.
Start of the trail with free parking is at the village house in Schmallenberg-Latrop.
For families with children, the approximately three-kilometre-long wood adventure course in Schmallenberg is particularly recommended. Explore with the whole family the eight stations around the theme of forest and wood. For children from five years of age or "all-terrain" prams, the trail is easy to master without major inclines.
Jumping far, puzzling flight pictures of birds of prey, guessing the ground conditions barefoot - the forest experience path Dorlar challenges all senses. Over a distance of about 2.5 km, nine adventure stations convey the diversity of nature. Parking is available at the Schützenhalle in Dorlar. From there you can reach the path in about 15 - 20 minutes on foot.
Wisent Wilderness
am Rothaarsteig
An impressive encounter with "his majesty", the bison, awaits you. In the bison wilderness, a herd of Europe's largest land mammals lives in a semi-natural area of about 20 hectares. A three-kilometre-long adventure trail leads around the enclosure so that you can observe these impressive animals with a high degree of probability. The hiking trail is deliberately designed to be close to nature and varied and therefore requires suitable footwear and a safe step. The bison wilderness is closed on Mondays.
At the end of the hike we recommend a visit to the adventure playground or a stop at the bison hut, right next to the bison wilderness.
Close to the Walkenmühle nature playground in Bödefeld, you can experience the local game at close quarters in the red deer enclosure. At feeding times, daily at 18.30 hrs, the probability of encountering the game is particularly high.
Information and registration: from Roland Albers on 0151 15200484.
You can explore about 400 metres of a cave system in the Bilstein Valley with a total length of 1,850 metres in the Bilstein Cave. The remaining cave systems are reserved for professional speleologists or are often under water for months at a time. This is because an active cave stream flows through the BILSTEIN Cave and constantly washes it out