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Natural Monuments

Papenkaule Volcanic Crater

Natural Monuments

Papenkaule Volcanic Crater

Highlight • Volcano

Papenkaule Volcanic Crater

Recommended by 321 hikers out of 329

This Highlight is in a protected area

Please check local regulations for: Natur- und Geopark Vulkaneifel

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Location: Gerolstein, Vulkaneifel, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany

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Best Hikes to Papenkaule Volcanic Crater

4.8

(317)

1,457

hikers

1. Millstone Cave (Mühlsteinhöhle) – Buchenloch Cave loop from Bewingen

22.7km

06:34

540m

Expert hike. Very good fitness required. Sure-footedness, sturdy shoes and alpine experience required.

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Expert

4.7

(140)

455

hikers

2. Buchenloch Cave Entrance – Gerolstein Dolomites loop from Gerolstein

4.95km

01:33

170m

Intermediate hike. Great for any fitness level. Mostly accessible paths. Sure-footedness required.

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Intermediate

4.7

(142)

406

hikers

3. Buchenloch Cave Entrance – Gerolstein Dolomites loop from Bewingen

5.84km

01:46

170m

Intermediate hike. Great for any fitness level. Mostly accessible paths. Sure-footedness required.

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Intermediate

Tips

PeterH65 (a.k.a. "Waldorf")

March 13, 2022

"... The Papenkaule is an 80 meter wide and 20 meter deep circular volcanic crater and is now a valuable geotope and biotope. The Papenkaule is a celebrity throughout the Eifel and something very special.
Around 10,000 years ago it became loud and uncomfortable for the Stone Age residents who had settled in the Buchenloch cave on the former sea reef of the Gerolstein Dolomites. A volcano broke through the limestone cliffs in their immediate vicinity. The Papenkaule was created - not a high arching volcanic cone with a crater in the summit, but a depression in the bedrock that still exists today.

Lava flow with a difference...
The lava emerged 300 meters west of the explosion source in the Hagelskaule and flowed south into the Kylltal in the direction of today's Gerolstein district of Sarresdorf. This sideways movement of the lava flow is unique in the UNESCO Volcanic Eifel Nature and Geopark and arose because the karst rock massif has underground cracks through which the flow of embers reached the surface horizontally rather than vertically.
Due to the nature of its soil, the Papenkaule never became a water-filled maar or crater lake. The limestone, which was formed by the death of countless lime-forming organisms and other marine animals in a subtropical shallow ocean 380 million years ago, is far too porous. The hollow in the reef is a habitat for rare animals and plants that thrive on limestone grassland. For hikers on the Eifelsteig or on its partner path, the Felsenpfad, who enjoy their stage on the Gerolstein Dolomites, the place is above all a place to pause, take a deep breath and find peace. ..."
geopark-vulkaneifel.de/eifel/landschaft/ausfluege-in-die-erdgeschichte/papenkaule.html

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R.Bungartz

March 20, 2021

The Papenkaule is a former volcano, the lava of which, however, did not come to light here when it erupted, but at the hailstones about 300 meters away.

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Sonja

August 24, 2020

It's exciting to imagine that you're standing on a volcano.

Translated by Google •

Details

Informations

Elevation 480 m

Weather

Today

Saturday 25 October

8°C

2°C

100 %

If you start your activity now...

Max wind speed: 25.0 km/h

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Location: Gerolstein, Vulkaneifel, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany

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Papenkaule Volcanic Crater

1. Millstone Cave (Mühlsteinhöhle) – Buchenloch Cave loop from Bewingen

2. Buchenloch Cave Entrance – Gerolstein Dolomites loop from Gerolstein

3. Buchenloch Cave Entrance – Gerolstein Dolomites loop from Bewingen

Other Popular Places to Check Out

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