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Germany

North Rhine-Westphalia

Rhein-Erft-Kreis

Bergheim

Abandoned Village of Manheim – Erft Flood Canal loop from Bergheim Zieverich

Routes

Bike touring routes & trails

Germany

North Rhine-Westphalia

Rhein-Erft-Kreis

Bergheim

Abandoned Village of Manheim – Erft Flood Canal loop from Bergheim Zieverich

Hard

4.2

(78)

340

riders

Abandoned Village of Manheim – Erft Flood Canal loop from Bergheim Zieverich

03:53

54.7km

170m

Cycling

Hard bike ride. Good fitness required. You may need to push your bike for some segments of this route. The starting point of the route is accessible with public transport.

Last updated: July 2, 2026

Tips

Your route passes through protected areas

Please check local regulations for:

Naturpark Rheinland

Lindenberger Wald

Waypoints

Start point

Train Station

Get Directions

7.76 km

Bürgewald Steinheide

Forest

10.5 km

Church of Alt-Manheim

Highlight • Religious Site

The once proud leaded glazing has given way to cheap hardboard. Sad.

Translated by Google •

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10.9 km

Abandoned Village of Manheim

Highlight • Settlement

Manheim has been successively resettled since 2013 due to the lignite mine Hambach. In 2016, around 350 people still lived there.
de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manheim

Translated by Google •

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14.6 km

Western End of the Old A4 Gravel Route

Highlight • Trail

Here you can ride a bike on the autobahn on the old A4.

Translated by Google •

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16.0 km

Hambach Forest Activist Camp

Highlight • Structure

Be careful on the ways. Here, holes and furrows have been deliberately dug.
FALL HAZARD!

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31.9 km

Lindenberger Wald

Forest

33.9 km

Path Along the Sophienhöhe (Hambach Opencast Mine)

Highlight (Segment) • Trail

The Sophienhöhe is located - visible from afar overhanging the Jülich Börde - directly north of the Hambach opencast mine around 6 km east of Jülich. While most of it belongs to its urban area, its north-east part is in the municipality of Titz and its east and south part in that of Niederzier. Most of it is in the area of the original (now mostly cleared) Hambacher forest, a forest area between the towns of Stetterich, Hambach and Alt-Lich-Steinstrasse.

In this section you can cycle around the artificial elevation very well.

Source: Wikipedia
de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sophienh%C3%B6he_(J%C3%BClich)
In this section you can cycle around the artificial elevation very well.

Translated by Google •

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45.9 km

Terra Nova Speedway Access

Highlight • Cycleway

The entrance to the bike speedway.

Translated by Google •

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46.3 km

Terra Nova Speedway

Highlight • Cycleway

The Speedway has unfortunately been closed since spring 2026. A section of the Rhine water pipeline is being laid there to be able to flood the Hambach opencast mine after 2030.

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54.2 km

Erft Flood Canal

Highlight • River

The Erft flood canal in its current form was created by Erft amelioration in the middle of the 19th century. The term melioration comes from agriculture and forestry and originally meant something like soil improvement. Earth amelioration became necessary because the groundwater along the river had been artificially raised by the action of many medieval mills. The result was a swamping of the Erftaue with serious health consequences for the population - for example through malaria. The straightening of the Erft created the conditions for the water to drain off faster again. As a result, the water and groundwater levels dropped and the adjacent areas became usable for agriculture.

Translated by Google •

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54.7 km

End point

Train Station

Way Types & Surfaces

Way Types

30.4 km

9.52 km

6.69 km

6.28 km

1.87 km

Surfaces

20.8 km

19.6 km

8.60 km

4.23 km

1.15 km

312 m

Elevation

Nothing selected – click and drag below to see the stats for a specific part of the route.

Highest point (130 m)

Lowest point (60 m)

Weather

Sunday 12 July

33°C

17°C

-- %

Additional weather tips

Max wind speed: -- km/h

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Comments

June 4, 2023,🚲Rund um den Hambacher Tagebau🚧🌲🏗

Nice round in the best weather 🚲🌞 Many highlights and photo stops along the opencast mine 👍📷 The cleared places Manheim and Morschenich are impressive. Manheim known as Schummi his home village 🏎 Then cycled a bit at full throttle over the old A4 💪🤣 In the well-known Hambach Forest, the path led past some tree and forest houses that …

Showing Translation

May 26, 2025,Hambacher Tagebau & Forst & viele Eindrücke ...🤔

A trip to the Hambach open-cast mine makes you think, occasionally sad, but above all, hopeful that after the lignite mining is completed, the renaturation measures will take effect and a wonderful natural area will be created for ALL living things 🌈👏!
There are incredible views from various points into the gigantic mining crater with the huge lignite excavators 👍. …

Showing Translation

June 9, 2025,Fahrradtour um den Tagebau, verlassene Orte und Hambacher Forst

A very exciting bike ride of about 50 km around the open-cast mine. There are many wonderful viewpoints of the mine, wide cycle paths, and even a small restaurant. All incredibly impressive. Then I cycled through the cleared areas, which seem surprisingly lively. There are many cars parked next to the houses that were actually cleared. The ride through the …

Showing Translation

August 3, 2025,Nach Forum :terra nova : Einmal um das Hambacher Loch

For me personally, this was a somewhat disappointing tour. Overall, I would have liked to be a bit closer to the large hole. The route was always cycling a bit away from the open-cast mine.
You can completely skip the climb to Sophienhöhe, the highest artificially created mountain in Germany.
A magnificent view from the observation tower into the large …

Showing Translation

October 3, 2025,Forum terra.nova – Aussicht auf den Tagebau Runde von Jülich

Even though the weather radar was a bit unstable, we decided to go on this tour anyway. And it was the right decision. Even though it was windy at times and rained a bit, we had a beautiful tour. What impressed us most was the scale of the excavated earth and the lignite it contained. I had the opportunity to …

Showing Translation

July 13, 2024,Mt. Sophie / Hambi tour

A very sentimental tour. Next time we'll do it in the opposite direction, because the southern part is a pain with lots of country roads. It's better to get it over with quickly and then you can really enjoy the rest.

Showing Translation

April 18, 2024,Runde Tgb. Hambach/Sophienhöhe

On this beautiful day, another lap around the Tgb. Hambach and the recultivated Sophienhöhe. Whether it's the forum, Schumacher's kart track, the open-cast mine and its relocation sites, there's something for everyone. Unfortunately, part of the lap was on narrow roads. But Sophienhöhe has become a highlight for many visitors. Quiet lakes or a great rest and playground on the …

Showing Translation

September 3, 2023,3808 - Tour um den Tagebau Hambach

interesting tour on the edge of the Hambach opencast mine. It's oppressive when you drive through the deserted village of Morschenich. Only a few residents still live there

Showing Translation

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Abandoned Village of Manheim – Erft Flood Canal loop from Bergheim Zieverich

Church of Alt-Manheim

Abandoned Village of Manheim

Western End of the Old A4 Gravel Route

Hambach Forest Activist Camp

Path Along the Sophienhöhe (Hambach Opencast Mine)

Terra Nova Speedway Access

Terra Nova Speedway

Erft Flood Canal

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