The Agger Valley to a cathedral up high (Overath) – hiking fun in the Bergisches Land

"Discovered" while hiking with pleasure and tried this tour today. And I can really recommend it. It goes over narrow paths and wide forest paths. The "climb" is moderate and easy to walk. It alternates between sun and shadow. I started in Klef and initially along the Agger. Then it goes through the Schlingenbachtal slowly uphill to Marialinden. There is a well-known pilgrimage church here. It continues downhill again, a bit along the Lombach back to Klef.

Despite having appointments later in the day👰‍♀️🤵💍, I didn't want to miss my Saturday morning hike. A celebration the night before prevented me from setting off as early as planned. Nevertheless, I set off around 8:30 a.m. in the village of Klef, close to the Overath motorway junction🥾🥾. Although the forecast sunshine didn't arrive until the end of the loop, I had a very successful tour through the autumnal Bergisches Land⛰️. After crossing a country road, the railway line🛤️, and the Agger River at the beginning, I soon turned onto a forest path. This quickly turned into narrow paths that meandered charmingly along the banks of the Agger River. I moved away from this first highlight of the route when I reached the Schlingenbach💦 stream, just before it flows into the Agger. Apart from a brief detour over mountainous trails, I followed the stream for a good three kilometers. I worked my way steadily uphill on pleasant paths with a gentle incline. As I switched to trails along the Komichsbach stream, the climbs became a bit more challenging. Through beautiful deciduous forest, from which colorful leaves fell to the ground like snowflakes, I reached the village of Lorkenhöhe, the first human settlement on the course. Between this village and the village of Krampenhöhe, I reached—as the names suggest—the highest point of the route. A magnificent view and a glimpse of the pilgrimage site of Marialinden were the reward for my effort. After leaving the built-up area behind me, I hiked downhill along the in places dry streambed. Then I made my way back uphill in a wide arc through various coniferous plantations. Across meadows, I reached the outskirts of Marialinden at Steinacker, where a circus🎪 had set up its base. Through residential streets, past colorful school and kindergarten buildings, I approached the famous pilgrimage church of St. Mary's Visitation🔔. After briefly admiring the imposing and widely visible building, I walked downhill, even though the next village was called Höhe. Beyond this, I immersed myself in nature again. Past a fish pond🐟🎣 with a beautiful hut, I reached the lowlands of the Lombach Valley. By now, the sun had broken through, allowing me to experience a little "golden October"☀️. After initially walking along wide paths through the autumn landscape, the section along the Lombach ended with a short trail where I passed a small waterfall💦. Shortly after, I reached the Agger River again, which I followed for a few hundred meters. I hiked under the highway🛣️ and shortly afterwards arrived at my starting point at the "Hotel Restaurant Lüdenbach," where I was able to look back on a perfect autumn hike in extremely pleasant conditions🤘. Conclusion: Hiking in the Bergisches Land🥾🥾 – another great success👍!

https://www.dasbergische.de/tour/aus-dem-tal-der-agger-zum-dom-auf-der-hoehe-kulinarische-tour-18

After really enjoying the first tour I hiked from the Roth hiking guide "Bergisches Land," I hiked tour 32 from Marialinden today. And I wasn't disappointed! From Marialinden Cathedral, you first descend into the Aggertal valley, first on asphalt and later on a wide forest path. After crossing under the A4 motorway, keep right and walk along the Agger for a while. First on a road, later on a dirt road, and later on a beautiful, narrow path. At the end of this path, you cross under the motorway again and enter the idyllic Schlingenbachtal valley, where you walk on wide paths (with a few exceptions) all the way up to Lorkenhöhe. Once you're a bit away from the motorway, it's wonderfully quiet, but before that, you'll be accompanied by constant traffic noise. From Lorkenhöhe, you head back towards Marialinden via Krampenhöhe. After reaching the road at the end of the forest, which leads from Krampenhöhe to Marialinden, I deviated from the designated route, which was supposed to take me up the road to the right. OK, it's shorter, but it's still a road. Instead, I continued along hiking trail M2, past a beautiful coniferous forest, later beehives, until I reached the road again at the top with some great views. After that, the hike continued uneventfully through buildings back to the cathedral, where the hike ended. The alternative route I chose was certainly more scenic and, above all, safer. Overall, a beautiful hike, even if it does have some asphalt! And I arrived on a perfectly timed bus, as starting today, I'm trying to figure out how to get to and from my hiking destination using public transport with the Deutschlandticket.

Fantastic golden October. We started at 3 degrees Celsius at the Marialinden cathedral [Tip: In front of the cathedral there is a box with flyers on 4 local circular hiking trails, which are probably not marked with their own symbol]. The round runs on nice, mostly wider paths. At the beginning you can unfortunately hear the motorway for a while. You cannot avoid the small piece of no footpath on the country road in front of the Schlingenbachtal. Otherwise very beautiful stream valleys and wide views over the heights at Marialinden.

@Cornelia 🐈 and I did this tour together. From Overath Klef, we went along the Agger River. Then through the Schlingenbach Valley. As we reached Marialinden, we were stopped by an approaching thunderstorm, which hadn't been indicated by the weather apps. We initially considered waiting out the storm in the church. But then we cut the tour short because a bus came and took us to Overath train station. Dear @Cornelia 🐈 , thank you so much for this wonderful tour together with spontaneous adjustments...

This beautiful tour was suggested by @Bonnie24. At first, there were difficulties with the meeting point because Google Maps misled me; the parking lot I was looking for couldn't be reached from the site Google had provided. Communication makes it possible😃, and we changed our minds. A little rain was forecast for the late afternoon, so we first walked along the Agger River; hiking poles were helpful. We only made it as far as Marialinden through the Schlingenbach Valley, over the Lorkenhöhe, and then Krampenhöhe. The weather slowed us down. The tour is a green feast for the eyes with very beautiful views. The spread of Himalayan balsam is alarming🙈. There were hardly any benches along the way; we would have liked to have taken another break. A little blackberry snack along the way was comforting😊, and when we finally reached the "silver" bench just before Marialinden, the weather app confirmed an approaching thunderstorm, not just rain. Replanning was necessary. In Marialinden, we took the bus to Overath and enjoyed a coffee and delicious cake at the café. The connecting bus then took us closer to the parking lot. Thanks @Bonnie24 for this wonderful day! Despite the cancellation due to Thunder and Lightning 😊 https://youtu.be/0IefcDO2s9Q?si=3YM4OclQrrTelAIo

We started the tour in Marialinden in the Rheinisch-Bergischer Kreis district. Marialinden is part of Overath. This tour is from the Rother Bergisches Land hiking guide and is tour no. 32. From Marialinden, we first descended into the Lombachtal valley. Then we continued to the Agger River. A beautiful path ran directly along the Agger River. From the Agger River, we entered the romantic Schlingenbachtal valley. We followed the Schlingenbach stream for quite a long time. Once we returned to Marialinden, we fortified ourselves with a Bergisches waffle with sour cherries, ice cream, and whipped cream at the Bergischer Hof.