Sauer­land High-Fly­er

The Sauer­land Höhen­flug (Sauer­land High-Fly­er) crosses the sum­mits of Sauer­land and of­fers bird’s eye views of the val­leys.

“Only flying is better”: that is the slogan of the Sauerland-Höhenflug (Sauerland High-Flyer) hiking trail. In fact, a hike along the trail has a few things in common with flying: since the route heads over Sauerland’s peaks, it offers numerous bird’s eye views of the valleys.

The total length is more than 250 kilometres and passes through deep forests and high moorland, across vast meadows, over highland heath and into the mountain pastures of the European bird sanctuary of Medebach Bay. There is also plenty for culture lovers to enjoy. For example, the starting point of Altena is crowned with its eponymous castle, one of the most beautiful hilltop strongholds in Germany. Shortly before the destination in Kornach in Hesse there is also the Eisenberg, Germany’s largest gold deposit. The site where the shining precious metal was once mined is now home to an exhibition mine.

Starting points include Altena and Meinerzhagen in Sauerland, as well as Korbach in Hesse. West of Eslohe, the two Altena and Meinerzhagen paths merge into a single route.

There are also numerous other picturesque locations along the way, such as the half-timbered town of Schmallenberg or Attendorn, which entices visitors with the Biggesee reservoir and Atta-Höhle cave. The route passes through a total of 19 towns and municipalities and received the ‘Quality hiking trail’ seal under the German Hiking Association’s ‘Wanderbares Deutschland’ programme. Hikers can choose from a number of circular routes for day excursions.