2-Valleys-Trail

The hike starts at the church in Kesternich. A special story surrounds the 19th century altar cross. It has only been hanging in its original place again since 1983. This is thanks to a former US soldier: When the church fell victim to the fierce house-to-house fighting between Germans and Allied forces in 1945, a US sergeant saved the old cross and took it back to his homeland. There, he entrusted it to a monastery. Decades later, the original owner was finally located, and the cross was returned.
We leave the village and wander through the expansive fields and meadows southeast of Kesternich. Soon, we come across scattered farms, known as resettlement farms. Shortly after, we reach the Eiserbach and follow the lively stream for about a kilometer, surrounded by a natural landscape protected due to the presence of various rare animal and plant species. The path leaves the stream valley, and we walk through a serene mixed forest, before the trees gradually thin out and the path leads us along the forest edge in a southwest direction.
Finally, we arrive at the Tiefenbach, whose babbling and banks with riparian areas will accompany us for the next kilometers. Along the way, we pass a former oil mill where edible oils were produced in the 17th century. Just before Kesternich, we leave the Tiefenbach and the path leads us back to the starting point.