Kahle Pön Summit and Heath Plateau

The paths around the Pön are easy to walk, in beautiful nature and heathland.

In the winter of 2003/2004, spruce stands and pines were removed on the fl at top of the Bald Pön (774.2 m above sea level) in order to give the remaining remnants the opportunity to breathe again. Endangered plants of the Bergheiden such as German broom, arnica and Kreuzblümchen are already returning. The crest is mitbeweidet by the Heidschnucken herd.

The Kahle Pön nature reserve extends around the Kahle Pön mountain. Together with the Usselner Heide, it offers a varied mix of natural areas made up of beech stands, pastures and high heaths. The high heath areas that have been preserved to this day are of particular importance. In the past, high heaths were created by stripping the upper layer of vegetation down to the mineral soil. This plagging was used as bedding for animals and spread back onto the fields together with the manure. The acidic and light-loving heather was able to assert itself particularly well against other plants on the raw mineral soil, and heath areas made up of heather, cranberries and grasses were created. Today, heath areas have become rare and must be permanently maintained as a cultural landscape. This is because heath does not tolerate shade from spruce trees, for example, and needs open mineral soils to reproduce. Today, maintenance is carried out using special machines developed for this purpose (plagg machines) and grazing with Heidschnucke sheep counteracts the progressive grass growth and aging of the heath. The high heath is of course a very special natural beauty during the flowering period in late summer!
The south-facing, dry high heath areas in particular offer a rare habitat. Rare bird species such as the tree pipit and meadow pipit, red-backed shrike and great grey shrike can be found here. Rare butterfly and grasshopper species also love the open vegetation around the Usselner Heide and the Kahle Pön mountain peak.
The panoramic views are extremely noteworthy. The view from the Kalied is a very special highlight, because here the Medebach Bay is literally at your feet. But the views from the summit cross of the Usselner Heide, from the Kahle Pön or from the Graf-Stolberg-Hütte are also fascinating.