Three-Lakes Tour

Once we have the B 236 under our wheels, we head towards Schmallenberg / Altastenberg. Passing the Winterberg landmark, the St. Georg ski jump, Kahler Asten with weather station, climate garden, and viewing platform. In clear weather, you can even spot the Feldberg far away in the distance. In Altastenberg, we turn onto the K 75 towards Siedlinghausen/Sorpetal to the wayside shrine "Großes Bildchen". From there, we go downhill and winding towards Siedlinghausen. In Siedlinghausen, turn left and after about 200 m left again towards Meschede. A sharp right curve follows, and at the top of the hill, pay attention! Just behind a marked left curve, we turn right towards Elpe. With some luck, you have a wonderful view into the valley and of the "Bruchhauser Steine" just a few kilometers away.

Through the entire Negertal, we reach the junction (keep left) to Ostwig. By the way, the Negertal was to give way to a dam in the late 70s and 80s. Many residents had already sold their houses, but some residents vehemently opposed this construction, so ultimately this project was shelved. A short stretch leads us over the B 7 towards Brilon until about 500 m later the turnoff to Rüthen appears on the left. Who doesn't know it, the famous mountain route of the Sauerland between Rüthen and Nuttlar? Masterful serpentines and curves that bring a smile. After about 19 km, it goes towards Brilon on the B 516, which we leave at the junction with the B 480 towards Paderborn. 11 km further, the sign to the right points to the Aabach Dam, which we circle rather uneventfully.

In Fürstenberg, we turn right towards Essentho / Marsberg. In Marsberg, we position ourselves in the left lane at the first traffic light and go straight ahead to the city center after the railway crossing. After these good 100 km, nothing stands in the way of a good coffee or cappuccino in Café Magnus (about 100 m after the railway crossing on the right).

Past the visitor mine Kiliansstollen, it goes over Leitmar, Vasbeck, Massenhausen to Bad Arolsen. The market, old town, and castle are certainly worth a stop. We stay on the B 450, cross the Twistesee Dam, and after about 9.5 km immediately behind Landau turn right towards Freienhagen. After about 7 km through the "Langer Wald" (Long Forest), we reach the B 251 and turn right towards Korbach / Eder Dam.

After Sachsenhausen and Niederwerbe, we reach the Edersee. Enjoy the drive along the Edersee edge road, and please strictly observe the speed limits. Many have already lost their driver's license here. About 3 km behind the dam at the traffic light, turn left towards Affoldern, Mehlen, Gifflitz; on the right side (about 150 m) the well-known biker meeting point "Zündstoff". In Gifflitz, we turn right towards Kleinern. Through Frankenau, we now cross the "Wesetal" with the "Ederhöhen" on the right and the "Wildunger Berge" on the left. Before Frankenau, in good weather, there is a unique panoramic view of the foreground Hochsauerland up to the Sackpfeife towards Biedenkopf.

In Frankenau, we drive towards Altenlotheim / Schmittlotheim and position ourselves right on the B 252 towards Korbach, to turn left before the Eder bridge towards Buchenberg. These 12 km to Sachsenberg offer curves of all kinds. Then it goes on in Sachsenberg towards Hallenberg. From Hallenberg, we take the B 236 under the wheels, refuel our machines at the Calpam gas station in Züschen, and so reach our destination Winterberg.

The lakes: The Aabach Dam serves the drinking water supply of more than 200,000 inhabitants of the districts of Paderborn, Soest, Gütersloh, and Warendorf as well as flood protection and sport fishing. The dam was put into operation in 1983 and has a total water reservoir of 19.5 million cubic meters. Size: approx. 2.5 km long and 1.5 km wide.

The Twistesee Dam is rather one of the smaller dams. Its storage volume is 9.1 million m3 and serves flood protection, recreation, and low water level increase.

The Edersee is the second largest reservoir in Germany by area and the third largest by volume. The total dam volume amounts to an impressive 225 million m3. The Edersee was primarily constructed as a tributary for the Mittelland Canal, Weser, and Fulda rivers. In Minden, there is a pumping station that supplies water for the Mittelland Canal to the Weser. The Edersee also serves power generation, so the turbines can generate up to 20 MW of electricity during peak times. The dam was destroyed in May 1943 by British bombers but was rebuilt within a year.

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