Grey Heron Route

14.13 km long
Round trip
Difficulty: medium
Condition: easy
Regional hiking trail
  • 3:45 h
  • 14.13 km
  • 305 m
  • 305 m
  • 409 m
  • 507 m
  • 98 m
  • Start: In der Ecke 17, festival and cultural hall
  • Destination: In der Ecke 17, festival and cultural hall

The Grey Heron Route is a circular route around the village of Berghausen.

The circular route leads over the Eder bridge into the district of Lehmbach. The first residential house was built in 1880. Gradually more families settled there.

1) Firefighting Pond

At the end of the Lehmbach valley, there is a resting spot at the edge of a small pond that was formerly used as a firefighting pond. With a bit of luck, shy forest animals can also be observed here.

2) Helle Hill

From Helle Hill, you have a beautiful overall view of Berghausen.

3) Grey Heron

Before the bark beetle infestation of the trees, a grey heron colony settled here. However, grey herons can still be observed in the Eder valley.

4) + 5) Valleys

Two other side valleys of the Eder are crossed or bypassed near the farm guesthouse "Hof Kilbe". Some benches invite you to rest in both valleys, but also at other points along the hiking trail.

6) Preisdorf Brook

From here it is not far to the largest Wittgenstein river, the Eder, which is crossed over a wooden bridge. Tired hiking feet are welcome to be cooled in the Preisdorf Brook.

7) Haushelle, detour to the viewpoint bench

The Grey Heron Route now leads below the L553 to the Grunewald inn. It continues along the Steinbach valley to the junction at Winterscheid. A highlight is a detour to the viewpoint bench above the rocks, called Haushelle.

8) Fortification

Here you have a beautiful distant view into the Eder valley towards Aue and a view of the fortification. This Iron Age site was built around 800 BC.

After a short section of the Trufte valley, starting from the hikers' shelter, the path shortly after the bridge soon leads right uphill to Ecke Hill, from where Berghausen can be seen again, now from the opposite side.

Waypoints

Start
In der Ecke 17, festival and cultural hall
CC-BY-SA | Jagdstuben Grünewald, BLB-Tourismus GmbH
© Tobias Vollmer, Ferienhaus Naturglück
Ferienhaus Naturglück
Holiday apartment

Good to know

Best to visit

suitable
Depends on weather

Directions

The circular route leads over the Eder bridge to the district of Lehmach and around it to the left on the hill "Helle". Then it goes into the Altmühlbach valley, straight into the Hude and up to Kilbe. 

Tour information

  • Loop Road

  • Stop at an Inn

Directions & Parking facilities

Coming from Raumland or Aue via the L553 to Berghausen. Follow the signs: To the festival and cultural hall. 

Free parking spaces are available in front of the festival and cultural hall.

Additional information

On the history of the village Berghausen in the upper Eder valley

Berghausen was first mentioned in a document in the year 1173. However, soil finds from the 1970s prove that there must have already been individual settlements in the side valleys of Berghausen, such as Trufte and Preisdorf, in the early Middle Ages. In 2020, another excavation took place in the lower Preisdorf valley, where remains of a stone-built cellar including ceramic fragments could be uncovered. Archaeologists date these to the transition from the 8th to the 9th century AD, i.e., the time after the Migration Period, at least 300 years before the first documented mention of the village. The settlement at this location is believed to have existed at least until the 12th century.

The village Berghausen was an independent municipality until the municipal reorganization in 1975; today it is a district of the town of Bad Berleburg.

Both circular routes are also suitable for bicycles, except for one difficult section on the Grey Heron Route at the Kreisbach near the railway crossing.

Organization

BLB-Tourismus GmbH

Nearby

Contact

Grey Heron Route
Zum Kinderzentrum
57319 Bad Berleburg