Hiking from the holiday park: Traumpfädchen trails from Rieden

Introduction

If you want to walk straight from the holiday park, there is no need to get in the car first. Two certified trails start right at the Riedener Waldsee, one of them under two hours, the other a full day out. What comes after that lies within a radius you can decide over breakfast rather than plan the night before: six more premium trails start less than twenty minutes away by car.

Some context, because it often gets muddled online: the trails here belong to the Traumpfadeland Rhein-Mosel-Eifel in the district of Mayen-Koblenz. For this region the Deutsches Wanderinstitut lists 27 premium walking trails (Traumpfade) and 14 premium short walks (Traumpfädchen); the region itself is certified as a premium walking region, most recently in 2024 and valid until September 2027. Rieden lies in the Osteifel, not in the Vulkaneifel district, which begins around 40 kilometres further west.

Traumpfädchen Riedener Seeblick: the walk without a car

The trailhead board stands right on the dam of the Waldsee. It does not get any closer than that.

The circuit measures 5 kilometres with 157 metres of ascent, the time allowed is 1:45 hours and it is graded easy (source: traumpfade.info). It leads over meadow slopes and through woodland, skirts the holiday home settlement by the lake, the Udelsheck viewpoint and the village of Rieden with its iron-rich mineral spring and Kneipp pool, and comes back out at the water.

Who it suits: your arrival day, a gap in the rain, a morning with the children, the day after the long walk. The surface is mostly unsurfaced track with a few narrow stretches, and there are climbs, so a pushchair is not a good idea. Children of primary school age manage the circuit without any trouble. At the end there is the Kneipp pool for your feet and the iron-rich mineral spring.

How the lake itself came about, and what else you can do there, is in our article on the Riedener Waldsee as a bathing lake and holiday base.

Traumpfad Waldseepfad Rieden: the big day out from the doorstep

The same car park, a different scale: 14.2 kilometres, 464 metres of ascent, 4:30 hours, graded moderate (source: traumpfade.info). A circular route starting and finishing at “Am Waldsee", 56745 Rieden. The car park charges a fee, and anyone staying in a holiday home here avoids that anyway. There are alternative car parks at the Kirmesplatz in Rieden and at the Gänsehals near Bell.

The Deutsches Wanderinstitut rates the trail at 55 experience points. The surface breaks down into 39 per cent unsurfaced track, 48 per cent lightly surfaced, 7 per cent narrow paths and 13 per cent asphalt. The route crosses the “Gänsehals, Schorenberg, Burgberg und Schmitzkopf" nature reserve and leads through beech woodland, meadow valleys and the Rehbach valley.

The highlight is the Gänsehalsturm. The 74-metre radio tower from 1976 carries a publicly accessible viewing platform at around 25 metres, reached by 108 steps, and from up there the view runs across the volcanic landscape as far as the Siebengebirge and the Westerwald.

Somewhere to stop along the way: the Gänsehalshütte at the tower. You should not count on it, though. Packing food for the circuit is the safe option.

Traumpfad Vulkanpfad: Ettringen

6.6 km · 234 m ascent · 2:00 hours · moderate. Start at the Hochsimmerhalle, Kottenheimer Straße 31, 56729 Ettringen. Around 8 kilometres from Rieden.

The shortest Traumpfad circuit within reach, and the one with the most unusual terrain: the trail runs over the crater rim of the Ettringer Bellberg, through the old basalt quarries of the Kottenheimer Winfeld with their rock faces, past the “Sieben Stuben" and the “Junker Schilling" rock monument to the Hartborn mineral spring. Two hours of pure walking time, though realistically you need more, because you keep stopping at the quarry edges.

Traumpfad Nette-Schieferpfad: Trimbs

9.2 km · 295 m ascent · 3:30 hours · moderate. Start at the village square (Auf dem Reusch) or at the sports ground, Hauptstraße 31, 56753 Trimbs. Around 17 kilometres from Rieden.

River landscape instead of a ridge walk: the trail follows the Nette, passing the “Trimbser Schweiz" viewpoint, a 250-metre lit railway tunnel and the Nette viaduct, along with slate cliffs and a nature reserve. The tunnel is what makes it a hit with children.

Traumpfad Booser Doppelmaartour: Boos

9.1 km · 146 m ascent · 2:40 hours · easy. Start at the Vulkanparkstation on the L 94, 56729 Boos. Around 30 kilometres from Rieden.

The easiest of the longer Traumpfade within reach: only 146 metres of ascent over a good nine kilometres. The theme is volcanic history, with eight cinder cones and two dry maars (volcanic craters that never filled with water), plus views of the Nürburg silhouette, ancient burial mounds and a sunken lane down into the Nitzbach valley.

The Traumpfädchen Eifelturmpfad Boos (4.1 km · 121 m ascent · 1:30 hours · easy) starts from the same point, the short version for half a day.

Traumpfädchen Mendiger Römerreich: Mendig

3.6 km · 114 m ascent · around 1:15 hours · easy. Start at the walkers’ car park “Zum Wingert" near Obermendig. Around 15 km from Rieden.

The shortest trail in this selection and the only one that tells a story: stations along the way explain the Roman past of the area, guided by the figure of the legionary Mandius. For families with younger children it is the most dependable choice, short and flat, with plenty of reasons to stop.

Traumpfad Pellenzer Seepfad: Nickenich

16 km · 594 m ascent · around 5:00 hours · difficult. Start at the Tumulus car park, Laacher Straße, 56645 Nickenich. Around 20 kilometres from Rieden.

The most demanding trail within range, and the only one where “difficult" is meant literally. At the Teufelskanzel one section turns alpine and calls for a sure foot, especially in the wet; there is a way round it. The reward is the wall of ash from the eruption around 13,000 years ago, the Krufter Waldsee and views over the Laacher See with Maria Laach Abbey, only 8 kilometres from Rieden.

What about the Hochsimmer?

At around 588 metres, the Hochsimmer is Ettringen’s local mountain, and the Hochsimmerturm stands on its eastern summit: 18 metres high, built of basalt by the Eifelverein Mayen between 1909 and 1911, freely accessible all year and free of charge, with a view as far as Cologne Cathedral when the air is clear.

One point worth getting straight: the Traumpfad Vulkanpfad does not go over the Hochsimmer, even though it starts at the Hochsimmerhalle. And there is no waymarked local circuit over the summit. To get up there you either follow a GPS route from Ettringen of around 9.6 kilometres and 360 metres of ascent, or climb up on the third stage of the EifelNetteSteig, which is not fully signposted either. For both options, a map or an app belongs in your pocket.

A quick word on the Laacher See circuits

Nine kilometres away lie the two best-known non-Traumpfade in the area: the lakeside circuit ML 2 (8.4 km, largely flat, around 2 hours) and the ridge circuit ML 1 over the crater rim (14.1 km, 270 metres of ascent). Both are outings in their own right, with a drive to get there, so they are only placed in context here; you will find them in full in the article on the Laacher See and its circular walks.

Overview

All trail data: traumpfade.info and the Deutsches Wanderinstitut.

Practical points

Somewhere to eat at the start and finish. The Eifeler Seehütte (Dr. Georg Klinkhammer Weg 1, 56745 Rieden) sits right by the lake. From mid-June to mid-September it opens daily 12:00 to 22:00; outside that period it closes on Mondays, except on public holidays. The kitchen runs through until 20:30, with the last table given out at 20:15. Booking online is requested. As at August 2026, so do check before you set off. There is also the pizzeria by the lake, which does takeaway as well.

Along the way there is little on offer. The Waldseepfad has the Gänsehalshütte; on the other circuits there is nothing you can rely on. Water and food belong in your rucksack.

With a dog. All the trails named here work with your dog on the lead. What does not work: the bathing area at the Riedener Waldsee, where dogs are not allowed in the water.

Best time to come. May and June for fresh green and long days, mid-September to the end of October for leaf colour and the most settled weather of the year. Why autumn is the underrated season here is explained in The Eifel in autumn. In high summer, start early; in winter, plan a ridge walk rather than a climb up the tower.

Before you set off. The trail status of the Traumpfade is maintained centrally and kept up to date, and closures for forestry work are normal in this region. If you want to understand the trail network as a whole, you will find it explained in The Traumpfade of the Eifel; the regional picture sorted by difficulty is in our overview of Walking trails in the Eifel.

FAQs

In closing

The difference between a walking holiday with a drive to the start and one without is a small thing, and still it changes everything: you set off more often. When the trailhead is 100 metres from your terrace, a shower of rain does not cancel a walk, it postpones it. And the morning before you leave still turns into one more circuit.

Our three holiday homes stand at the Riedener Waldsee. Two certified trails begin at the water and six more within twenty minutes by car, and after the long circuit your own sauna and whirlpool bath are waiting at the house.

Our three homes at the Waldsee

We rent out three holiday homes on the Sonnenterrasse above the lake. It is around 100 metres to the trailhead of the Traumpfad Waldseepfad and around 150 to the water. Staying here, you pay nothing at the walkers’ car park and never have to weigh up whether the drive is worth it for a two-hour circuit.

On walking days, what matters most is what comes afterwards. Every house has a washing machine and tumble dryer for wet kit, a wood-burning stove with firewood ready and a fenced terrace where up to two dogs can be off the lead. Susi is the house for two to four guests; Annika and Tommy offer three bedrooms and two bathrooms across 100 square metres for up to six. We let from three nights, and you can arrive Monday to Saturday. You will find the homes with photos and floor plans under Holiday Homes.