The forestry recultivation of the Sophienhöhe began as early as 1988, and has long since become a local recreation area. Around 90% of the area is wooded and managed, with many small clearings and several small ponds scattered throughout.
There is now a network of over 70 km long hiking trails around and on the Sophienhöhe, some of which are also open to cyclists and horse riders. At the highest point of the Sophienhöhe (Steinstraßer Wall) is the small viewing tower Römerturm, which is a replica of a Roman watchtower and from which you can see as far as Cologne, Düsseldorf, the Siebengebirge, the Eifel and the Netherlands. To the southwest of it there is a game reserve and the old summit cross (approx. 265 m above sea level), which marked a high point on the Sophienhöhe for many years, and from where you could see into the Hambach opencast mine before the Sophienhöhe was expanded after 2002. The sequoia forest with sequoia trees was created in the immediate vicinity. There used to be a take-off point for paragliders on its northeast flank; In this area there is the small cuckoo hut (approx. 246 m) as one of several shelters in the dump. There are also several toboggan runs, several mountain lakes and a Way of the Cross. On the newer part of the Sophienhöhe, which was built after 2002, there is, among other things, a weather radar (see weather radar section) and a Celtic tree horoscope,