Nature in (cli­mate) change

Have you noticed that hiking will make you both smart and creative? As the legs keep moving, the head can come to rest, causing ideas and understanding to suddenly appear as if out of nowhere. The nature park Teutoburg Forest /Eggegebirge guarantees such findings on a regular basis, not only thanks to the good air and healing climate that are a treat for the body and soul, but first and foremost due to the specifically designed hiking trails that come in short and exciting versions catering to families with children, and in longer and educational ones alike. The KlimaErlebnisRouten trails, for example, let you inhale the beneficial, healing air while showing you just how much climate conditions and changes influence the plant and animal world, as well as humans.

Travelling across different climates

Climate influences are reflected particularly visibly in this low mountain region between Bielefeld and Diemelsee, where the Atlantic climate in the west meets the continental climate east of the mountain ranges. The nature park Teutoburg Forest /Eggegebirge reflects how different temperatures and humidity levels will let different plants thrive. Choose one of the five KlimaErlebnisRouten trails to explore. The longest and most demanding one covers 17 kilometres. It leads up to the Velmerstot, the Eggegebirge’s highest mountain at 468 metres, and crosses picturesque Silberbach valley. Along its course, you can learn, among other things, how climate change and the risk of sunburn correlate, and that plants can get sunburned, too, while also having some protection against just that.

Enjoying a hike on the highest level

If you are looking to add a few more kilometres, the NaturZeitReise themed trails offer not only even more hiking fun on routes of up to 46 kilometres, but also point out the human influence from changing the landscape by use and settlement for centuries. XXL hiking pleasures are particularly evident at the Hermannshöhen, part of the Top Trails of Germany leading past sights such as the Externsteine and the Hermann Monument. The nature park bus sets out at Easter every year, shuttling across the nature park every hour on weekends and public holidays until the end of October to pick up any hikers who need to rest their feet. Its stops include excursion destinations such as the Hermann Monument and the Externsteine, the bird park, and the open-air museum.

Short and interactive family trails

Families with children will enjoy the shorter themed trails with information on nature, species, and climate protection at interactive experience stations. The family version of the Paderborner Höhenweg, for example, lets hikers of all age groups experience changing nature at eight different stations.

If you’re looking for greater detail on this subject, you will be happy to hear that the Klimaerlebniswelt in Oerlinghausen is about to open a new exhibition house this year to make climate change and possible adaptations particularly vivid and tangible. Among other things, it is presenting a potential redesign of personal living environments, as well as future-oriented agriculture and forestry. The adjacent Senne large nature conservation project shows some possible implementations in action.

www.naturpark-teutoburgerwald.de