Wilder Kermeter

"Wilder Kermeter - 2x wilderness for all" hiking trail in the barrier-free nature experience area

The Kermeter is one of the largest contiguous deciduous forest areas in North Rhine-Westphalia and, as a Natura 2000 area, enjoys special protection status beyond the national park. The hiking trail in the Wilder Kermeter adventure area is 5.4 kilometers long, finely gravelled and therefore just as suitable for a short walk as it is for an extended family outing!

It is barely a few meters before you reach the so-called windthrow area on the "Wilder Weg" nature discovery trail. Uprooted and fallen trees lie here in a wild jumble. Since storm Kyrill ravaged the Eifel National Park in 2007, no one has cleared them away. And nobody will. Because from the wide, wheelchair-accessible wooden footbridge, which leads through the first 250 meters of the mixed forest of beech, maple, birch and spruce, you can clearly see how nature is renewing itself in the "primeval forest of tomorrow". Insects, beetles and snails have long since conquered the trees. Ferns and grasses grow through the rotting branches and the leaves rustle and crackle softly.