The tour is also doable for less experienced trail runners and is certainly a nice challenge with a great landscape and nature experience. There are many information boards along the route where you can find out more about viticulture and the geological features of the dolines. Dolines are not fruit or animals!
Wegbeschreibung
We start at the car park at Schloss Berg in Nennig. Built on a hill above the village of Nennig, Schloss Berg consists of two castles: the lower and upper castle. These are two interconnected moated castles whose history dates back to the 12th century. The lower castle is privately owned, while the upper castle - converted into a Renaissance castle in later centuries - is now home to a luxury hotel, a gourmet restaurant and a modern casino.
Our tour begins quite comfortably on less demanding paths and leads us along the Schlossstraße past the restaurant "Die Scheune" into the vineyards near Nennig. From here, we pass the old market square on our way to Felsstraße and the first long climb. This follows the course of the Nennigerbach stream metre by metre. This section of the trail is particularly popular with riders from the region, so please don't be surprised if there is a horse in the corridor.
At the top, we are in the middle of the Lateswald, a private forest belonging to the farmstead of the same name. This forest with its huge old trees offers incredible peace and tranquillity compared to the usual stress of everyday life. We take the opportunity to make a few more loops and bends through this forest before continuing towards Tettingen. A great trail section awaits us not far from the Wingertshof. Many changes of direction, small hills, roots and completely different forest formations will delight every trail runner and nature lover. The last section of this trail takes us through old trenches from the war years. They are still silent witnesses to a horrific time that also left its mark on our border triangle. Around the district of Tettingen, there are numerous remnants of the former Höcker Line, a concrete anti-tank barrier several kilometres long, embedded in the landscape like scars.
From the trenches, we walk along lush meadows and paddocks to the first sinkhole. A sinkhole is neither a fruit nor a long-haired animal. Nor are sinkholes ancient instruments or tools. Dolines are funnel-, kettle- or chimney-shaped cavities in karst rock with underground water drainage. They are geological features and are formed by solution processes in the karstified subsoil. The first sinkhole on the route is a sinkhole with a swallow hole. This has a depth of several metres and is equipped with a so-called swallow hole (ponor). This prevents the accumulation of rainwater. On rainy days, you can hear the "swallowed" water rushing underground.
We reach the second sinkhole after a short but challenging trail ascent at the edge of the forest. This place regularly invites hikers to take a break or have a picnic. The second doline is a solution doline without a swallow hole. Precipitation water accumulates here to form a pond. This is surrounded by an ecologically valuable edge of vegetation.
From now on, it's either a leisurely run out or pick up the pace again. The last few metres run continuously downhill and offer a wonderful view of the Moselle valley, the neighbouring Luxembourg border town of Remich and, of course, Schloss Berg from the vineyards at the end.
