Tiefenbachtal

If you start at Kirchplatz in Simmerath, you will soon encounter the Tiefenbachtal nature reserve. Once you have left the first trees of a small forest behind you, the Mariagrube comes into view. This former slate quarry from the 19th and 20th centuries is one of Simmerath's earliest "business enterprises." From 1847 until about 1924, slate was mined underground here. A spoil heap still reminds of the decades-long slate extraction.

Following the Tiefenbach, the small forest becomes a real forest and you go deeper into the nature reserve until an old oil mill provides insight into the 17th century: The building complex still allows a good impression of how edible oils were produced here back then. Until now the route mostly went downhill, but the path soon gains elevation and after about a two-kilometer march the forest thins out and you enter the district of Huppenbroich. Here, you can admire the Christ the King Chapel, for which many hurdles had to be overcome until the ceremonial inauguration in 1947. Especially during the Second World War, the construction of the church suffered under National Socialism; it was only during the reconstruction that the villagers could fulfill their dream of their own chapel.

From Huppenbroich, it goes back to Simmerath, where the view of the church St. Johann Baptist forms a nice conclusion to the hike.