Von Quellen und Steinen bei Borgholzhausen

In bright sunshine, there was another mother-daughter hike today ☀️ We decided on a tour tip from the Hermannshöhen: Three observation towers on the ridge of the Teutoburg Forest offer wide panoramas on this hiking tour through the natural and romantic border area of Lower Saxony and North Rhine-Westphalia. The numerous springs and lakes along the way are also characteristic of the hiking route. The Blauer See, which is fed by several karst springs, is like an idyllic forest oasis. In the Puskental, the source area of the Hase (tributary of the Ems), the hike leads to the Schwarzen Welle. The Hasequelle and the Uhlenquelle are also in the Puskental. The bird life in the Teutoburg Forest was also impressive - today the black woodpecker was particularly active in front of the lens 📸 we listened to and observed many other birds 😍 A great tour through the beautiful Teuto 👍🏻

I was craving for a more challenging hike again, preferably one with many steep climbs and descents. As a Dutch person living near the German border, the nearby Teutoburgerwald can provide me with just that. Today's hike started and ended from the carpark on the summit near the Luisenturm lookout tower, not far from the town of Borgholzhausen in the valley below. I made many hikes throughout the Teutoburgerwald, but I had never been here before. This route follows the Hermannsweg for many kilometres, and I think this section of the famous long distance trail is one of the prettiest! Unlike many other sections of this rather straight trail, the path here is quite narrow, rocky and contains many short climbs and descents. Views down the ridge both north and south galore! Highlights on this tour include as many as three, freely accessible lookout towers of which the Luisenturm (near the trail head) is the most prominent one. They each provide you with a unique view, different from the others. I made this hike in hot, very humid weather (28-30 degrees with thunderstorms on the way in near the end) which made the steep climbs quite the challenge. But all worth it!

We finished the entire tour, but unfortunately, my phone battery died in the last 4 kilometers. I probably convinced my friend to do more hiking. 😁 The beer made it possible!🍻

In view of the sunny prospects (which unfortunately didn't happen for up to half an hour 😊), there was great motivation to go on a nice hike on partly unknown paths in Teuto. Starting point today was the gingerbread town of Borgholzhausen. After 1.5 km ascent, we went over the Luisenturm... 5 km further to the next one on the Steinegge. From there another 5 km to the Beutling. They all had in common magnificent views of the Osnabrück and Ravensberg hills, the narrow ridge of the Teutoburg Forest... but also the Wiehengebirge and Münsterland. Characteristic of the route were also many small streams and lakes along the way... the river Hase, which flows into the Ems near Meppen, also has its source in this headwaters. The blue lake is fed by several karst springs and resembles an idyllic forest oasis. The hike always runs along the border between North Rhine-Westphalia and Lower Saxony. The honey and gingerbread cafe in Borgholzhausen is recommended for a ☕️ 😊

The first 3/4 of the round is very nice! It goes through dense pine forests up to the ridge path! If necessary, access from Wellingholzhausen can be shortened to the hiking car park. The climb to the ridge path is steep and slippery in wet weather. There are always going up and down on the ridge, and here too every step has to be right in wet weather. The descent to Borholzhausen is just as steep and caution is advised here too. The last quarter of the round takes you along heavily worn forest paths and past fields and meadows. Followed by another climb to the Baggins Tower. This is followed by another descent back to Wellingholzhausen. All in all a nice lap, I personally didn't like the last part because there was quite a lot of road.

The shortcut at Hollandskopf is not recommended. Komoot's map material is incorrect. Better go to Borgholzhausen!