Around Blens

From the parking lot at the church or from our hut, we go down a few steps, leaving the Rur bridge on the right and turning left into Odenbachstraße. After 750 m, behind the forester's house, there is a hiking trail on the left with several trail markings, e.g. Buntsandstein route. We follow this path and have a nice view of Neuabenden and the Blenser rocks. We come to a wayside shrine dedicated to St. Hubertus and pass a shelter on the right. Now we descend on a small steep path that leads into a wider hiking trail. We first hike upwards on this trail and then follow the path downwards. After a sharp bend, we have a small side valley of the Rur on the left and an old spruce stand on the right. Soon we reach the Habersauel campsite. At a barrier, we go a few steps to the right and then down a steep, paved path to the Rur bridge (1 ¼ hours).

Beyond the bridge, after a right turn, we see stairs leading up to L249. (right next to the steps is the passage through the guardrail). We cross the street, turn left, and are in the Fischbach valley within two minutes. A few steps uphill, we leave the path on the left unnoticed and follow the signs Sonnenberg and 58. The approximately 2 km long ascent through the valley to the heights of Sonnenberg is impressive. Following the motto "Leave nature to be nature," on the right side we see the creek bed with some pools where wild boars take their cleansing bath, fallen trees bridging the creek bed, and plenty of deadwood where magnificent mushrooms thrive. On the left, we see a steep slope with the characteristic oaks of the area which have no chance to grow large and strong on the rocky ground. Between the trees, some rock formations are glimpsed repeatedly. At the top, we go straight past a path intersection to a pasture where we take the left path. From here we have a very nice view of the surrounding open landscape with the fields of Vlatten and Hergarten.

After passing through a pine forest, there is a shelter at the forest edge and in front of us the fields and meadows on Hahnenberg, separated by blackthorn and hawthorn bushes. It is especially charming and typical for the area when the bushes bloom white in spring. After a few meters, we find ourselves on a small paved road, which we follow to the left and then turn right after 500 m (there is a bench here, hiking trail 58). This field path leads us for over a kilometer through pastures and fields with magnificent views of the heights of the Rureifel. Finally, the path descends and leads to a slightly wider trail, which we follow slightly uphill to the right. After about 15 minutes, we turn left onto K48 and, after a few steps, see our hiking trail to the right, leading towards Badewald.

At first, we stay at the forest edge and after about 250 m, turn left into the cool forest with its old trees (pink marked post on the left, info board for walkers on the right). We stay on this path for 500 m, turn right and at the next junction turn left again. As soon as we leave the forest, we ascend the opposite field path, immediately turn left again, cross K48, walk along the forest edge and turn right onto the next field path. At the edge of the field, we do a right-left detour and descend on a wider hiking trail into the romantic Ross valley, where not only magnificent oaks delight us. The Rossbach has deeply cut into the ground, although the water is not visible. Here we follow hiking trail 77. Shortly before the village of Abenden, the path makes a sharp right-left turn, and now a babbling brook accompanies us, fed by several small streams and in ancient times the driving force of a mill. On the way, one can still see a millstone and the remains of the old mill, now a residential complex.

The brook accompanies us through the village to the Rur. Beyond the bank, we keep left, stroll along the railway line, and just before the railway bridge, turn right and ascend into the forest. This is the last ascent before our starting point. The initially wide path gets narrower as we go up. Below us, we hear the rushing of the Rur. In a small side valley, we turn after a sharp bend and descend steeply downwards to the Rur via some stairs (hiking trail 30). Before entering the fields around Blens again, we enjoy the last steps at the forest edge. Trees and shrubs form shady arcades, and here and there, the foliage gives a glimpse of Blens. Only a few minutes separate us from Odenbachstraße, where we turn left towards our hut or the parking lot at the church.