Cox Mine

At the southern edge of town on the L 288 towards Bensberg lies the former Cox dolomite quarry. While the extraction of high-quality dolomite at the Cox quarry severely impacted the original natural landscape and destroyed the woodland, a valuable piece of nature has emerged since mining ceased. Where pickaxes and hammers once swung, grass snakes and solitary wild bees now thrive. The grass snake appreciates the mix of open areas for basking and the damper areas near the larger ponds for hunting. The sandy, sun-exposed loose rock also provides ideal conditions for solitary wild bees to build their nesting burrows.
Several steep outcrops still bear witness to the former mining activity.
To protect the biotope, the pit may only be accessed via designated paths. These paths lead both along the bottom of the pit and along the higher edge, thus offering not only a good close-up view but also a panorama of the entire area.

The Rheinisch-Bergischer Kreis urges visitors to observe the following:
We kindly ask you all to stay on these designated paths. Only in this way can the animals living there and the native plants thrive.
Because the use of the quiet zones for leisure activities, which lasts all day in good weather and extends well into the evening and night hours, leads, among other things, to
- that due to the foot traffic and the fire pits, the gravel vegetation as well as the riparian vegetation is destroyed over a large area,
- that the brood tubes of wild bees in the warm, sun-exposed loose rocks of the slopes and hills are destroyed by climbing and subsequent soil erosion,
- that small mammals and reptiles can only come out of their hiding places at night due to the presence of humans, which is particularly unfavorable for cold-blooded reptiles that rely on basking spots to maintain their body temperature.
- that making fires and barbecuing will drive away the birds and bats that hunt near the waters at dusk.