Castle town in the land of reservoirs

This tour begins below the historic town center of Hückeswagen, a town whose castle some describe as having the charm of a "Rothenburg above the Wupper." The 14,5 km route leads along the banks of the Wupper, which was dammed to form a reservoir in the 1970s, and after a detour into
The trail leads from the Hückeswagen "hilly terrain" to the higher-lying Bever Dam. Along the way, the Bergisches Land "fjords" of the two reservoirs invite you to observe fascinating birds or to take a dip in the waters of the reservoir, originally created for water regulation, at one of the designated Bever beaches.
From the parking lot on Mühlenweg in Hückeswagen, walk to the Wupper pre-dam and follow the riverside path to the left. The pre-dam was built in 1974 as the first part of the Wupper Dam between Hückeswagen and Radevormwald. While it went into operation as a pre-reservoir for the reservoir's inflow as early as 1976, it took another eleven years until the main reservoir with the dam near Radevormwald-Krebsöge was completed.

Tip: A hike here is particularly appealing in autumn, when the deciduous forests, which extend right up to the riverbank path, turn colorful.

Follow the riverside path, turn right at a T-junction, and continue to the dam of the 350.000 cubic meter Wupper reservoir. Walk across the 14,7-meter-high dam and follow the riverside path to the left on the other side of the valley. Depending on the water level in the main reservoir, large areas dry out, providing breeding and habitat for native bird species such as the little ringed plover and the coot. Even newcomers like the Canada goose can be found here.

Tip: You can easily observe the birds from one of the bridges along the riverbank using binoculars.

Follow the riverside path marked with the Water Quintet trail marker for about 600 meters into a side valley, then turn left after approximately 150 meters. The path climbs uphill to the hamlet of Karrenstein. At the T-junction, turn left and follow the farm track through a dip into the forest, then turn right.
The path runs parallel to a pasture fence for a short distance. At the end of the fence, bear diagonally left, follow a path, keep left at a fork, and you will soon see the reservoir water again on your left through the trees. Continue uphill for a short distance, then take a path across to the left and descend to the Wupper Reservoir's forebay in the Wiebach Valley, which is a nature reserve due to its riparian and swamp forests.

Now follow the "X" marker along the riverbank path to the right into a side valley and uphill to Oberhombrechen, where you turn left onto the road. At the junction with a school bus stop near a wind turbine, follow the district road to the left through a valley and uphill again to Neuenherweg. There, turn right at the first opportunity and, before the last larger property, turn left onto a somewhat overgrown path (X). At the top, walk through the small wood to the right, out of the forest, and at a junction in the open area, turn left over the crest, from where you can see Hückeswagen in the valley to the right. Continue through the hamlet of Linde, across the main road, and on to the hamlet of Eckenhausen. At the end of the road, turn right and after about 60 meters, turn left onto a path (X) down to the Bever Dam, the oldest part of which was built in 1898 to regulate the water level in the Bever and Wupper rivers.

Follow the lakeside path marked "X28" and the water quintet symbol to the right. After about 1,3 kilometers, the trail leads diagonally uphill to the right. At the top, turn left at the intersection and continue to the roundabout in Wefelsen. Not far from here, until the 1930s, stood the dam of the old Bever Dam, which became redundant after the construction of the current dam near Reinshagensbever between 1935 and 1938 and was later demolished. The current Bever Dam holds approximately seven times as much water as its predecessor, with a capacity of 23,7 million cubic meters.

At the roundabout, follow the road to the right, then at the next junction turn left over the dam of a pre-dam and continue to the campsite. Here, the hiking trail leads hikers without dogs to the left across the campsite, always parallel to the reservoir shore, to the "Angry Ant" parking lot. From there, turn right uphill to the district road, which you follow to the left (hikers with dogs must go uphill to the right at the campsite entrance to the district road and then follow it to the left). At the beginning of a long left-hand bend, turn right onto a farm track and descend to Hartkopsbever. There, follow the residential street downhill and turn right at the second junction with Untere Straße.

At the end of the road, turn left onto a footpath that leads you through the woods above the old railway line, which has been converted into a cycle and skate path. At the junction with a road, turn left and soon left again down onto the former railway line, which you follow to the right until you reach the new Hückeswagen bypass. There, turn right onto the cycle and pedestrian path, past the roundabout, and continue to the B 483. Turn left for a few meters and at the large roundabout, you will reach the turnoff to Mühlenweg on your right, which will take you back to your starting point.