It doesn't get any higher - border region between Westfalen and Waldeck

From the hiking portal in front of the Schützenhalle (free parking) and the Niedersfeld sports field, we first walk through the Kurpark over the bridge at the Schützenhalle, cross the street "Am Steinkamp" and continue straight ahead through the "Josefsweg", at the end turn left to the church. Here we reach the main road and turn right to the "Alte Post" bus stop. There is another information board here, turn into the street "Am Bach" and we are now on the X16. Now we walk uphill in the valley of the Burbecke with the X16 markings on the feeder to the Rothaarsteig. After approx. 2 km, the gradient increases and after 3 km we reach a steep 400 m climb to "Unterer Burbeckerplatz", first on N1 and later on N2 together with the WHT. Here we are already at an altitude of 750 m. Until the middle of the 19th century, there was a central charcoal pile here. The route continues uphill to the Langenberg, the highest mountain in Westfalen at 843.1 m. We continue along W5 and reach the border between Hessen and NRW. Now we come across several historical boundary stones on the 1.3 km downhill border hike. From the 13th century, this was the border between the Duchy of Westfalen and the Principality of Waldeck. The denominational and dialect border also ran right here. The trail continues steeply downhill to the Kellerbach stream. We jump over the crystal-clear Kellerbach, climb up a short embankment and reach the path marked W4, which we follow upstream on the right. At the top, we reach the Rothaarsteig, but leave it after just 600 m and continue along the NH to the source of the Hoppecke. Our hiking trail runs for approximately 2 km through the largest high heath area in western Germany in the "Neuer Hagen" nature reserve. From the source of the Hoppecke, we continue through the Heid, now again marked with the Rothaarsteig, to the Clemensberg (838 m) with its white cross. From up here, we enjoy views in all directions and of the Hildfeld quarry below us. We hike down the mountain in serpentines and reach the new Hochheidehütte hut on the Rothaarsteig via the H3 markings southwest of the Heid. Follow the N2 downhill to the Rosenthal parking lot. From here, the trail descends steeply past the RAG-Haus to Hillebachsee, which is the only swimming and reservoir in Winterberg. Crossing the dam of the reservoir, we reach the Kreuzberg in Niedersfeld with the sacred facilities of the Stations of the Cross and Mariengrotte. From here we hike back to our starting point at the hiking portal.Trail scouts: Elke and Helmut Otto© Hiking magazine