Abandoned Railway House loop from Messel

Hiking trails & Routes

Germany

Hesse

Landkreis Darmstadt-Dieburg

Messel

Abandoned Railway House loop from Messel

Moderate

4.2

(34)

147

hikers

Abandoned Railway House loop from Messel

03:07

12.0km

70m

Hiking

Moderate hike. Good fitness required. Easily walkable paths. The starting point of the route is accessible with public transport.

Last updated: September 25, 2026

Tips

Your route passes through protected areas

Please check local regulations for:

Geo-Naturpark Bergstraße-Odenwald

Waypoints

Start point

Bus stop

Get Directions

2.39 km

Timeline of Earth's History: 1.5 Billion Years Marker (Messel, Geo-Naturpark Bergstraße-Odenwald)

Highlight • Monument

There is a small rest area directly next to the timeline.

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2.79 km

Geological Timeline: 1 Billion Years

Highlight • Structure

3.13 km

Geological Time Trail — Messel Pit

Highlight (Segment) • Trail

... on this forest path are arranged at small intervals of the year tables on the history of the earth

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3.29 km

Devonian Period Marker – Timeline Trail of Earth's History

Highlight • Monument

4.42 km

Messel Pit Observation Platform

Highlight • Viewpoint

The free accessible viewing platform just off the visitor center allows a view into the pit. Be sure to pay attention to the opening times. Roller shutter was closed today even before 18.00 clock.

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4.72 km

Messel Pit UNESCO World Heritage Site

Highlight • Natural Monument

It's fascinating to take a journey back 47 million years, 60 meters down into a former volcanic crater, a planned landfill, one of the world's most important fossil discovery and storage sites, an old oil shale and lignite mining pit, and a growing nature reserve. On the tour, you can marvel at the detailed nature of real fossils and even touch them. My tip: Be sure to take a guided tour and visit the visitor center, which is a concrete block for good reason.

So, in addition to natural science and industrial history, there's also art and architecture. While the pumps are running, a lake awaits its formation, many fossils await daylight, and many new findings from millions of years await publication and presentation.

What more could you expect? Perhaps even the insight that we ourselves are only a tiny part of nature.

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7.86 km

Abandoned Railway House

Highlight • Structure

Small overgrown lost place… nothing special… collecting blackberry thorns is not worth it

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10.3 km

Bird Information Boards at Hügel Schneise

Highlight • Structure

A total of 3 boards to woodpeckers, u.a. at the edge of the forest

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12.0 km

End point

Bus stop

Way Types & Surfaces

Way Types

9.03 km

2.27 km

550 m

178 m

Surfaces

4.28 km

2.68 km

1.80 km

1.59 km

1.15 km

517 m

Elevation

Nothing selected – click and drag below to see the stats for a specific part of the route.

Weather

Friday 6 November

9°C

-1°C

0 %

Additional weather tips

Max wind speed: 7.0 km/h

to get more detailed weather forecasts along your route

Comments

December 30, 2023,Odenwald 🌲🌳 - Grube Messel "Urpferdchen Weg"

The Urpferdchen Weg is a designated quality hiking trail. I don't necessarily want to sign that.
However, traveling back in time is super interesting. 👀
Terms from school days crop up, such as Eocene, Tertiary, Carboniferous...
There is the story of how the Messelsee came into being as a result of a maar eruption 48 million years ago.
The path …

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February 2, 2024,Messel Tour: Grube Messel Aussichtsplattform, Wanderweg M1 Urpferdchen-Weg inkl. Zeitstrahl-Weg - Runde ab Grube Messel, Parkplatz Besucherzentrum

I live only 15km from Messel - but I haven't yet made it to the Messel Pit UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Now the time had come - since I was traveling with a dog, I only had to go to the viewing platform (you can reach it for free if you walk past the visitor center). But I've decided to …

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March 17, 2023,Wanderung 17.03.2023 (Messel, Grube Messel)

Short hike with Oskar on my last day of vacation in and around Messel and Messel Pit. Very nice here in the wasteland. Monotony.
Nevertheless, I prefer hiking 10 times and am 1000 times more motivated in the mountains.

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May 8, 2025,Letzter Test vor meinem ersten Mammutmarsch: Urpferdchen Runde von Messel

After my knee pain turned out to be a torn meniscus and I had a preliminary consultation for the planned surgery a good week ago, I had little hope of being able to complete my first mammoth hike the day after tomorrow. But the surgery has been postponed for the time being, and today I did my last short test …

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March 24, 2026,Wanderung 06/2027; Ein Wanderfossil auf dem Weg zu seinen Vorfahren

With two friends, today's hike took us far back into geological history and to an encounter with our distant relatives.
From Messel station, we first went into the village. Unfortunately, the museum is only open on weekends. Then we walked past allotments, over field paths to the edge of the forest and again across open terrain into the Zeilhard forest …

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