Legend Trail

...the hiker is guided along the culturally and historically rich and adventurous Legends Trail. The Legends Trail starts at the hiking parking lot near the Frielingsdorf bus station and leads past the Catholic parish church of St. Apollinaris, which has existed in its current form, designed by Dominikus Böhm, since 1927/28.

Follow the Scheelbach stream to the Scheeler Mill. From there, continue past the ONI sports field to Eibach. Here you'll find the ruins of a moated castle dating back to 1356. Next to it is the Gut Eibach farm. The trail then leads through the hillside forests of the Leppe Valley to Gimborn Castle. This moated castle was pledged by the Count of Berg to the Count of the Mark in 1273 and is now owned by the Barons von Fürstenberg zu Gimborn. Passing the Kümmel forester's lodge and an important wayside cross on the St. Maternus pilgrimage route from Marienheide to Cologne, you'll reach the slopes of the Steinberg. At 376 meters, this is the highest point in the municipality of Lindlar.

The path continues to the legendary Neuenberg. Here stand the ruins of the medieval Neuenberg Castle (also called Neuenburg), first documented in 1433 and for a time the administrative seat of the former Steinbach district. Narrow forest paths lead to the Dwarf's Hole (also called Dwarf's Cave). This is the entrance to a limestone cave. According to legend, dwarves lived in this cave and once helped the lady of Neuenberg Castle in a dispute between her husband and the knight of Eibach. After a great disappointment with a "human" neighbor, the dwarves are said to have left the cave and never returned.

The last section of the legend trail leads along the northern edge of the village of Scheel back to the starting point in Frielingsdorf.

Start: Hiking parking lot Carl-Hasselbeck-Str., Frielingsdorf
Difficulty: medium
Length: 14 km
Gradient: max. 27%, ø 6%
Height difference: 400m