Between Landwehr and dams

Sweeping views, small hamlets, and the shores of two reservoirs characterize this 14,1-kilometer circular hike. Along the way, hikers must overcome a total elevation gain of 250 meters between Radevormwald, the highest town in the Cologne administrative district at 421 meters above sea level, and the shores of the Bever and Wuppertal reservoirs. Part of the route follows the "Water Quintet" hiking trail, while the remainder follows other marked trails maintained by the Sauerland Mountain Association.
From the parking lot next to the Radevormwald town hall, whose name derives not from a "wheel" but from a "clearing in front of the forest," cross Hohenfuhrstraße and walk straight ahead along Schützenstraße to Oststraße, which you follow to the right to the market square. The Evangelical Reformed Church here is one of four religious buildings in the town center.

Follow the hiking trail marker of the Water Quintet downhill to the left of Kaiserstraße, then turn right into the pedestrian zone of Schloßmacherstraße. Walk diagonally left through this street to a fountain, then diagonally right past the community center down to the bus station. Two railway signals are reminders of the time when the railway ran here. The railway connection has been history since the mid-1970s, and since the mid-1980s, parts of the railway line, which once led up to the town from Wuppertal, have been submerged by the waters of the Wuppertal Reservoir.

Turn right at the traffic lights, cross the side street leading to the bus station, turn left, and then right onto the main road. On the other side, a footpath leads you left into a residential street, which you follow straight ahead until it makes a 90-degree turn to the right, joining Jung-Stilling-Weg. Continue straight ahead onto Wasserturmstraße, which soon becomes a gravel path. Turn right onto the next residential street and follow it uphill. At the top, take a look back at the silhouette of Radevormwald.
Follow the road over the crest of the hill, soon crossing the Hückeswagener Straße (B483), and continue on a gravel path into the forest. At the first fork, keep right. After a few minutes' walk, you will pass the old Landwehr: this earthwork and ditch system, once secured the border with impenetrable hedges, separated the County of Mark, whose historical territory you have just entered, from the Duchy of Berg.
A few hundred meters further on, you continue straight ahead in a gravel turnaround on a forest path that leads you to the edge of the woods with a charming view: The Bever Dam can be seen diagonally to the left in the hollow. The part visible from here was initially dammed in 1898 by a dam near the village of Wefelsen. From 1935 to 1938, the current dam of the Bever Dam, which has since held 23,7 million cubic meters of water, was built further down the valley. It regulates the water level in the Wupper River and is a popular destination for water sports enthusiasts and swimmers.

The trail descends through meadows. Soon, the Water Quintet Trail veers left towards the edge of the forest. Continue along the forest edge to the right, heading towards Siepersbever. There, turn right around the farm buildings to reach the road. Here, leave the main Water Quintet Trail and turn right onto one of the access paths. Walk a few meters along County Road 11 and, at a right-hand bend, turn left onto a gravel path, which you follow down into a dip. There, turn right onto the "X 7" hiking trail, which leads uphill to the village of Eckenhausen. Turn right there, then follow the "X" marker to the left, crossing the B 483, and continue to Linde. From the hilltop behind the hamlet, you can see Hückeswagen in the valley to the left.

A little further on, turn right at the T-junction, follow the "X" marker into a small wood, and shortly before the end of the wood, turn left onto a somewhat overgrown path leading downhill to Neuenherweg. There, follow the road to the right to the district road, turn left onto this road, and at the next rise, turn right at the bus stop towards Oberhombrechen. Before the last house in the village, turn right at the "Wuppermannstein" and walk into the Wiebachtal nature reserve.

In the valley, a gravel path leads through a left-hand bend to a forebay of the Wuppertal Dam. It was built in the mid-1980s to improve flood protection along the Wupper River and to regulate water flow during dry periods.
You cross the dam, rejoin the Water Quintet hiking trail, leave it at a barrier, and hike to the right following the signs for "A3" and "Ra" through a stream valley, then upstream, then left onto bridges over two streams, and beyond them, diagonally left (!) following the signs for "Ra" steeply uphill. At the top, in the spruce forest, take the cross path to the left, at the fork turn left again, and after about 100 meters, turn right following the signs for "Ra". At the edge of the forest, you hike to the right through a hamlet (beware of a free-roaming dog!), cross a valley, reach the "Haus Siepen" inn on the next rise, and then follow a residential street to the right until it joins Bahnhofstraße (Station Street).
From there, turn left back to the bus station and from there follow the same route as on the way there back to the starting point.