Haldenglück

The slag heaps of the Ruhr region, created from the overburden of coal mining and the remains of the steel industry, today offer a unique landscape for cycling tours. The RevierRoute "Haldenglück" takes you 39 kilometers to several of these slagheaps, starting at the main train station in Essen. It goes through Essen's city center, past an allotment garden colony to the Zollverein UNESCO World Heritage Site. Here you will find the Ruhr Museum, which tells a lot about the history of the Ruhr region and the slagheaps. The route continues to the Rheinelbe spoil tip, where cyclists can discover exhibits from the sculpture forest by artist Herman Prigann and the stairway to heaven on the top of the tip. The Pluto spoil tip and Europe's largest spoil tip landscape, the Hoheward Landscape Park, are further stops on the route. The Hoppenbruch spoil tip is a paradise for enduro bikers and the Hoheward spoil tip offers a sundial and the horizon observatory. The tour ends in Recklinghausen, from where it is easy to return to the starting point at Essen main station. It is well signposted and can be ridden from March to October.