Erft Valley-Kreuzberg loop

From the castle square, drive about 100 m between the stables and tithe barn on Castle Street, turn right at the cross street into Bürgermeister-Henn-Str. After the sports hall, turn right again down Kolping Street to the B27. Turn right again and after a few meters turn left into Steingasse, crossing the Riedbach on a small bridge. At the next junction, you are in the Ried, the oldest residential area in Hardheim. From here, follow the signs of the Erft Valley Mill Cycle Route towards Bretzingen.

Along the following section, you will repeatedly find signs and descriptions of the thematic cycle route here. At the outskirts of Hardheim, for example, is the "Gärtnersmühle", whose historic building complex lies on the right side of the path. The mill channel supplying the mill with water from the Erfa lies directly below the path.

The path leads uphill along the valley towards Bretzingen, with the Erfa winding between trees and bushes on the right side of the path, and on the left side the slopes form the Wacholderheide nature reserve. Shortly before Bretzingen, after a slight climb, is the "Schneidmühle". Here the cycle path crosses the Erfa and continues between the stream and gardens to the main road. Cross the road and immediately keep left towards the sports field. After a bridge, keep right. At the Mittelmühle turn right and continue for a few meters on the country road to the Obermühle. There turn left onto the farm road or cycle path and briefly along the mill channel.

It is worth a look at the mill channel directly by the path: if you watch the water surface carefully, you can see spring water rising from the bottom of the channel. This is the source with the strongest flow along the entire Erfa.

After the transformer station, the tour branches off from the Erft Valley Mill Cycle Route to the right onto the farm road towards Waldstetten, up the idyllic Seltenbach Valley. The route now follows this "Seltenbach" for 3 kilometers with a slight incline. When the first houses of Waldstetten are visible, the path leads over a small bridge to the other side of the stream and then left, directly along the bank. On the right side, there is a wonderful view of the slopes of the Waldstetter Tal nature reserve which rise steeply from the country road. Wine was grown here for several hundred years until the 1960s. Today, these former vineyards are famous for the numerous wild orchids and many other rare animal and plant species. In autumn, the slopes display a breathtaking colorful spectacle. Those who want to enjoy this view in peace are offered a covered rest stop with seating along the path.

Continue through Waldstetten. After leaving the village, continue for about 400 m on the country road towards Walldürn, turn left at a field cross into a field path, after 100 m turn left again, where the well-developed field road leads around a hill back into Seltenbach Valley, the Altheimer Grund. Passing a dam, continue along the valley. After about 2 km there is a small climb, at the end of which turn right. After another climb, the path leads straight into the forest. In the forest, after about 500 m, turn right. The path continues to gently climb until the highest point of this tour, 435 m above sea level, is reached. After 650 m leaving the forest, a wide view northward towards the Walldürner Heights and beyond to the Spessart opens up, which becomes even broader when continuing straight ahead: you can see over Walldürn into the Odenwald and east into the Taubergäu, for example wind turbines in the Krensheim district.

After 450 m, turn right and shortly after at a wayside shrine turn left again and follow this path to the Fuchsenloch settlement. Here cross the country road, pass the farmsteads and follow the path to the next settlement at Eckwald. Before the bus stop there, turn right, cross the Höpfingen-Waldstetten municipal connecting road and continue straight through the fields towards the forest. After 750 m, before a hedge, turn right onto a field path, follow it for 400 m and turn left at the next junction. First along the forest edge, the path then leads through the forest to a path junction, the Dreimärker on Kornberg. Here the districts of Höpfingen – Hardheim – Bretzingen meet. After a few meters straight out of the forest, a wide view north opens up again. Dornberg with its historic church can be seen on the opposite slope, behind it lies the Main valley and the Spessart; on the right is the valley incision where the Erfa leaves the Bauland muschelkalk and has cut into the Buntsandstein of the Odenwald.

Now the path turns right following the route to Kreuzberg. Below the fruit trees, the south slope drops steeply into the valley, the "Schleid". According to a Hardheim legend, the "Hulle-Fraali" live there. These are female forest spirits who prepared food for the hard-working people, for example. On some days, one can see the steam of their soup kettles rising from the forest.

Past numerous weekend houses, the path leads increasingly downhill. Before you finally let the bike "roll", it's worth one last look at the valley, with the "pearl of the Erft Valley", Hardheim. The scene is dominated by the "Erftaldom", the Catholic parish church of Hardheim. A large section of the main traffic artery, the B27, is also visible. In this area, the federal road also marks a geological boundary: south of the road is the gray muschelkalk of Bauland, north of it are the foothills of the eastern Odenwald with the red Buntsandstein.

From Kreuzberg, it goes moderately steeply downhill into the Erft Valley. At the bottom, turn right at the crossroad and go under the former railway bridge. Take Bahnhofstraße to the left towards B27. After crossing, by the company Eirich, there is another information board about the former Mittelmühle, which has now become an eye-catcher in the company complex. In front of the little bridge over the Erfa, a historic garden house has been rebuilt and offers a view towards the Stone Tower.
After the bridge turn left into the lane and ride between the Erfa and gardens to Steinemühle. There turn right into Doggenbrunnen with a small climb to the main road. Continue uphill half-left here. Turn right at the bakery into Burggasse. At the fountain in front of the church turn left towards the castle square and ride to the starting point.