Moselsteig Trail Stage 12: Ürzig – Traben-Trarbach

From the starting point, this Moselsteig Trail leg first takes you on a pavement next to the road out of the town at a slight incline. After passing the last house, the trail continues on a narrow path uphill through the forest, sometimes close, and sometimes less close to the county road. Shortly after the town exit the access route from the Ürzig railway station joins the forest path. After crossing the K 62, you ascend to the Burgberg plateau, over some steps and then on an even steeper path. The panorama view that opens up on the highest point of this leg, at 352 m altitude, is truly impressive! Not only do you have a view of the Moselle Valley, but also of the heights of the Hunsrück. The view even goes beyond the mountains of the Moselle, right to the Wittlicher Valley. With construction of the High Moselle transition, this panorama will change dramatically in the next few years. The resting place at the hut and the many benches make the Burgberg a great stopover after the first challenging ascent.

The next sections leads downhill through the forest. The section with lots of paths through the high beech forest is particularly beautiful in spring and autumn. At the exit of the forest, the broken up slate gives you an insight of the structure of the subsurface. Also, an access route leads to the towns of Erden and Lösnich on the other side of the Moselle. The path continues relatively level above the vineyards, until the Moselsteig Trail ascends to the L 58, which you will cross. The next section changes from the forest to a road lined by gorse, then the trail descends more steeply until shortly before the country road. Here, you have the option of descending to Kinheim on an access route. Again, the trail continues steeply on a short distance through vineyards and the edge of the forest. In the forest you cross the Klingelbach Valley, in some parts on a beautiful path. At the end of the forest a view of the vineyards and Moselle is revealed. Here, you have a view of Kröv for the first time, the famous wine-growing village, which you will experience in the course of this Moselsteig Trail leg from various perspectives! Now, the Moselsteig Trail again leads into the forest, which is dominated by oaks. If you feel like taking a detour: On access routes you can ascend to the Kröv leisure park or descend to Kröv. The trail now follows the edge of the forest for quite some distance. Below the edge of the forest there are vineyards and a free view of the entire Moselle loop at Kröv. An interesting educational nature trail focussing on slate, shows how important the rock is for wine growing. The Hänchens Born barbecue hut with its stunning view of Kröv is just above the path. A little further along on the panorama trail, the Moselsteig Trail reaches the Kröv mountain chapel. Take a look at the chapel and enjoy a relaxing break with a gorgeous view of Kröv!

Afterwards, you will cross the parking area at the chapel as well as the county road, and finally pass a game enclosure. Then, you should definitely take a detour to the Steffensberg viewing point which is only 50 metres away. From here you have the most beautiful view of the Moselle loop at Kröv! After a short stretch of forest, the Moselsteig Trail reaches the K 64 and the Mont Royal holiday resort. Thereafter, the trail leads away from the road and continues on a slope edge path. Above the path there are impressive shale formations, to your right you have a pretty panorama view of Kröv, Wolf and the ruins of the Wolfer Monastery on the mountain. Following a short access route, you will arrive at the holiday resort’s restaurant, offering you refreshments complete with a panorama view.

The Moselsteig Trail now continues along the slope edge, first as a forest path, later as a narrow path, which leads through the remains of the Mont Royal fortress. Beautiful viewing points make this section very varied. The trail reaches a small airfield (gliders and motor air planes). In summer you can also visit the restaurant right next to the runway. A short access route takes you to the Rabenwerk viewing point. A little later, the trail leaves the slope edge and continues as a narrow path, past an old oak and at a steep decline to the top-most vineyard path. Through the vineyards, you will quickly approach the twin city. The Moselsteig Trail leaves the tar road on its descent and leads to the first houses on grassy path. Following a path, you will continue downhill through gardens and vineyards until you hit the town. The town roads will finally take you down to the Moselle Bridge, where this leg ends at the junction to the railway station.

• Sturdy hiking footwear
• Appropriate weatherproof hiking gear
• Picnic lunch

Please note: On weekends, there is no bus connection in Ürzig!

Ürzig: A 1, Wittlich-Mitte (Centre) exit, follow the B 50 towards Zentrum (Centre), B 49 to Cochem, continue along the L 55 to Ürzig Traben-Trarbach: B 53 between Bernkastel-Kues and Zell

Ürzig: Small car park directly at the starting point at the Bergstraße/Römerstraße junction, large car park on the B 53 on the bank of the Moselle, from which there is a 0.8 km walk to the starting point

Traben-Trarbach: Car parks on both sides of the River Moselle (pay car parks at certain times)

You can reach the stage towns Ürzig (Moselufer stop) and Traben-Trarbach (train station stop) with bus line 365.

Alternatively, you can also travel from Ürzig-Kinheim train station to Bullay train station with the RB 81 and from Bullay train station to Traben-Trarbach train station with the RB 85.

There are regular connections. Please note that during the school vacations of Rhineland-Palatinate / Saarland, on weekends as well as on public vacations there may be restrictions on the frequency! Please check the daily timetable on the website of the Verkehrsverbund Region Trier (VRT):

www.vrt-info.de

"Moselsteig" - Offzieller Moselsteig-Wanderführer von ideemedia, 14,95 €

Authors: Ulrike Poller, Wolfgang Todt, publisher: ideemedia, 300 pages with around 300 images, altitude profiles, QR codes and GPS Tracks (in German), Format 11,5 x 23 cm, ISBN: 978-3-942779-21-0, 14,95 €

"Official Moselsteig Trail hiking maps" in pocket format:

The entire route is divided into 3 maps:

Leisure Map Moselsteig - Map 1: Perl - Trier (Stages 1 - 4), ISBN: 978-3-89637-419-6

Leisure Map Moselsteig - Map 2: Trier – Zell (Moselle) (Stages 5 -14), ISBN: 978-3-89637-420-2 Leisure Map Moselsteig - Map 3: Zell (Moselle) – Koblenz (Stages 15 -24) ISBN: 978-3-89637-421-9

Individual maps: €5.90

Set of 3 maps: € 14.50 (ISBN: 978-3-89637422-6)

"Premium-Set"

Premium set consisting of the official hiking guide including set of 3 hiking maps. Publisher: ideemedia, ISBN: 978-3-942779-24-1, 26,95 €

The hiking guides and the maps are available in bookstores or on the website https://www.visitmosel.de/wandern/service-infos-tipps under the heading “Ordering brochures”.

Leisure Map Moselsteig Trail – Map 2: Trier - Zell (Mosel) (Stages 5 - 14), ISBN: 978-3-89637-420-2

Mosellandtouristik GmbH

Kordelweg 1, 54470 Bernkastel-Kues; Phone: +49 (6531) / 97330

www.moselsteig.de

Tourist information office Bernkastel-Kues

Gestade 6, 54470 Bernkastel-Kues; Phone: +49 (6531) / 500190

www.bernkastel.de

Tourist information office Traben-Trarbach

Am Bahnhof 5, 56841 Traben-Trarbach; Phone: +49 (6541) / 8398

www.traben-trarbach.de