D5 Dark forests, sunny heights

A centuries-old military road, today's Federal Highway 506 on the heights south of the Große Dhünn Reservoir near Hutsherweg, is the starting point of the D5 circular hiking trail – Dark Forests, Sunny Heights. The 4,5 km route initially follows the wooded edge of the valley westward, parallel to the reservoir trail. Above the Oberstockberg pre-reservoir, the D5 leaves the reservoir trail to ascend via the hamlet of Meiswinkel to Weiden. Crossing Federal Highway 506, the trail then descends through the village into the Sülz Valley. In the idyllic hamlet of Bech, the circular hiking trail finally turns left onto an asphalt path, leading back to the starting point in Hutsherweg.
In Hutsherweg, a village in the municipality of Kürten, the hiking parking lot serves as the starting point for the approximately 4,5 km long circular hike through "dark forests and sunny heights"; the D5 hiking marker will be your constant companion on this varied tour. Following this marker, take the left fork at the edge of the forest below the barrier to the parking lot – this means you will be hiking on the reservoir trail for the first section of the route. Immediately to the right, the headwaters of a small valley appear in the beech forest, its steep ravine extending downwards. After a gentle up and down, you will reach a clearing that offers a beautiful view of the water and the opposite northern shore of the Große Dhünn reservoir. To the northeast, the view extends to the dam of the Kleine Dhünn pre-reservoir and the village of Dhünn in the background. From here, you can "read the landscape" and clearly observe the differences between the northern and southern shores of the Große Dhünn reservoir. The terrain rises more gently from the Dhünn River to the plateau to the north than from your location in the southern area, where the slopes are predominantly steep. Due to geographical conditions, the gentle northern slopes were settled and used for agriculture early on, while the steep southern slopes remained forested and thus have a correspondingly old tree population. The agricultural areas on the north side were largely reforested after the construction of the dam and now form the water protection forest. Continue along the path from here until the D5 circular route leaves the dam path above the Oberstockberg pre-reservoir to the left, heading towards Meiswinkel. In Meiswinkel, the route now leads along an asphalt road to Weiden and the B 506, which you cross. On the left, the St. Anna Chapel catches the eye. Originally built in 1507, this church was erected by the St. Anna Brotherhood and rebuilt after a fire in 1845. To mark its 500th anniversary, the chapel was completely restored in 2006. The valley road leads you to the edge of the village, from where you continue downhill along a farm track. To the left, behind the fence, is a rainwater retention basin. Below, in the hollow, a small stream forms, which further downstream fills several fish ponds. Before reaching the hamlet of Bech, the route turns left and follows the paved road uphill. The ascent offers a view of large parts of the village of Weiden, which were developed between 1995 and 2005. The path eventually leads you back to the B 506, where, after crossing the road again a few meters to the right, you will reach the starting point of your hike.