Hochheide

Heath landscape with various sights and viewpoints

Grandiose view from the Clemensberg. Great theme trails and the Rothaarsteig hiking.

The Neue Hagen, also called Niedersfelder Hochheide, is a 73.89 ha nature conservation and FFH area in the northeastern Rothaargebirge on the northern slope of the Clemensberg (about 837 m above sea level) in the Hochsauerlandkreis in the southeast of North Rhine-Westphalia. It is the largest mountain elevation in northwest Germany. (Wikipedia)

We came here on our hike on the Rothaarstieg. A class area the Sauerland.

Very nice round

The heather is not yet in full color.

The largest of the mountain heaths in north-west Germany, which are rare in Europe, is in Niedersfeld. The wide, tree-poor landscape turns into a pink carpet of heather flowers in late summer. The protected area is rightly one of the natural treasures of South Westphalia.

The Hochheidehütte is a great refreshment stop for an intermediate break.

Beautiful Winterberg Hochheide to hike through for young and old. 🥾🥾

"... Sheep love to eat fresh greens. That's why you can let them eat wherever there should only be short stalks and low plants in the end. Everything that is young and fresh is eaten. The gentle animals are suitable are therefore ideal as biological lawnmowers.
What does that have to do with biodiversity? Meager meadows and heaths are particularly valuable habitats, because many rare animal and plant species live here. But if such landscapes are not maintained regularly, then bushes and trees will grow - and in a few decades there will be nothing left of the meadows and heaths. This is exactly what the sheep do: they eat the young shoots of the bushes and trees and thus prevent them from growing. ..."
naturdetektive.bfn.de/lexikon/tiere/saeugetiere/schafe-hueter-der-biologische-vielfalt.html

"... The Neue Hagen near Niedersfeld is the largest high heathland in North Rhine-Westphalia.
The extraordinary landscape exerts a very special fascination. Heath and high moor are home to rare flora and fauna. The 800 meter high area is on the border to Hesse on the northern slope of the Clemensberg and has been a nature reserve since 1955. Heath sheep graze there, act as "biological lawn mowers" and thus ensure the preservation of the heath. Birds such as the cuckoo, wood grouse and nightjar build their nests. Hobby biologists can even discover arctic and alpine plants in the Neuer Hagen nature reserve. ..."
winterberg.de/poi/nreservation-neuer-hagen

The view compensates for the difficult ascent

Beautiful paths through the wide landscape

The Hochheide is a worthwhile hiking area in every season. There is even a small restaurant up here.

This unusually beautiful landscape exerts its charm at any time of the year. Be sure to watch when the heather is in bloom or in the sun with snow.