Hümmerich: Circular Walks and Mining Traces
Accommodation in Hümmerich
Hümmerich is located in the Rhine-Westerwald Nature Park in Rhineland-Palatinate. Circular hiking trails, a forest nature trail and traces of early mining offer ways to explore the village and its surroundings. There is also a small museum with insights into village life, flax production and dairy farming. This gives you a mix of outdoor activity and regional history to consider when planning your trip, with routes of different lengths and a shared starting point for several circular walks.
Circular walks of different lengths
The Sonnenweg is 5.2 km long, involves 183 metres of elevation gain and takes about 1.5 hours. For a longer walk, the Fockenbachweg is an 8.1 km route with 309 metres of elevation gain and a walking time of about 2.5 hours. The route to the Weißer Stein natural monument covers 5.9 km and 253 metres of elevation gain; it is listed as taking about 2 hours. At 3.3 km with 120 metres of elevation gain, the Badeweg is the shortest of the routes mentioned here. It takes about 1 hour to walk.
The starting point for each of these four circular walks is the hiking car park at the entrance to Hümmerich on Bismarckstraße. This lets you compare the routes by their listed distance, elevation gain and walking time before choosing a walk. The HÜ1 to HÜ6 circular hiking trails in Hümmerich are signposted. The numbers refer to the local hiking trails; the routes mentioned vary considerably in distance and elevation gain. When planning your day, you can weigh up whether you prefer a shorter walk or a longer hike.
Experience nature and discover mining history
The 7 km forest nature trail provides information about forests, nature and mining. It offers a different focus from the circular walks: rather than simply covering a route, you can explore themes related to the landscape and its history along the way. Those particularly interested in historic mining can also find visible traces within the Hümmerich district: there are mining pits behind Karlshof, on the path leading to the Weiße Steine.
Another route, about 7.7 km long, leads from the entrance to Hümmerich down into the valley to ore fields and mine entrances. The route includes far-reaching views across the Cologne Bay, a stretch alongside the Gierender Bach through meadow valleys, and a return to Hümmerich. This route combines several landscape impressions with evidence of mining. When choosing between the trails, you can therefore also consider whether you would prefer a signposted circular walk, information about forests and nature, or a route focused on mining traces.
Village history at the Weighing Scales Museum
The Kleine Waagen-Museum in Hümmerich features village artefacts as well as exhibits on flax production and dairy farming. It is housed in the former fire station of the Hümmerich volunteer fire brigade, where many historical exhibits are on display. A visit to the museum complements the walking routes with insights into aspects of village life and the local economy. Together with the mining pits and ore fields, it also highlights mining as part of the area's history.
The Hümmerich Transport and Beautification Association looks after benches, shelters and signposting in and around Hümmerich and along the circular hiking trails. Its responsibilities also include the forest nature trail, the Weighing Scales Museum and the charcoal kiln. If you would like to focus your stay on hiking, nature and local history, you can take these attractions into account when choosing your holiday destination and search specifically for a holiday apartment in Hümmerich. You can also include Oberhonnefeld-Gierend in your search.
For the broader travel overview: Rengsdorf.
