Naturpark Südeifel Wanderweg Nr. 16

This scenic route leads past the Bitburg reservoir (in Biersdorf), via Hermesdorf and Wiersdorf. A highlight along the route is the Hermitage, a pretty chapel in the forest, in Wiersdorf. Route No. 16 is 9.3 km long and easy to walk.

Field report

We leave the car park at the reservoir in the direction of the centre of Biersdorf. On a mulched meadow path we go up, passing orchard meadows. At a sharp turn-off we hike to the right past the cemetery on the Erzberg and then turn left across the meadows, past fields and pastures. Everywhere we are rewarded with breathtaking views of the surrounding villages.
After crossing the country road to the reservoir, we reach the centre of Wiersdorf. Here it is worth visiting the small church of St. Mark and St. John.
After that, we head briefly back towards the valley. Then we turn into the mountain road and follow it until the path leads us to the right again over the heights. It goes steeply uphill to the elevated tank and then through the forest, where the path brings us after some time downhill over narrow paths to a farm track.
We follow this on a few hairpin bends to Hermesdorf. You walk partly on narrow, romantic meadow paths past dense bushes.
On the road with little traffic we reach the centre of the village. Here the church of St. Luke and Fides invites you to visit it and a bench in front of it can be used for a break, because we have made about half of the way.
And again we go up the hill, along the road. We leave it at a bend and follow the path through the forest. On the relatively flat path, which leads past a refuge, after a while we reach the signpost that takes us to the hermitage. The detour is worthwhile and both the Way of the Cross and the chapel are worth the effort of the climb. Afterwards we reach our path again. We cross the road and then walk back along the bank towards the dam wall. After crossing, we follow the shore of the lake back past the sandstone formations of the Rotlay, which still show traces of the working of millstones, to our starting point.
(Author: Dr. Karl-Heinz Fellmann, Eifelverein)