Uplandsteig

The trail opens with the hardest climbing of the whole trip: from the visitor centre in Willingen the path gains height quickly through beech woods, with the first far views over the Upland from the Haselnussweg. After the Itter valley it climbs to the Schwalenburg, one of the largest early-medieval ramparts on the Hessian-Westphalian border, where a wooden viewing tower stands above the overgrown walls. From there the route follows the wooded south flank of the Hoehekopf down to Rattlar, a quiet scattered village on the upper Diemel.

A shorter, rolling stage with two fine lookouts. Above Rattlar the trail climbs to the Dommel, whose observation tower opens a panorama over the Naturpark Diemelsee to the east and the Hochsauerland summits to the west. The path then shares its course with the Diemelsteig down to Hemmighausen in the Diemel valley, where the Niegelscheid viewpoint gives another look at the lake before the trail bends south to Eimelrod, a quiet farming village below the open upland pastures.

The longest day, but the one with the most character. Through Neerdar with its 13th-century staffed church and along the Bömighäuser pond the trail follows the Neerdar valley, then climbs steadily onto the open ridge past the Spitzbubenbusch. The reward is the Kahle Pön, an immense upland heath unique in Europe, purple in late summer. Below the summit the route drops to the source of the Diemel and ends in Usseln, the second-largest village of the community, known for its quirky museums.

The high ridges day. From Usseln the trail heads south through the Stryck forest to the Hillekopf, where it joins the Rothaarsteig, and then runs for kilometres along the state border through the Alter Hagen heath, over the Clemensberg and past the Hoppecke source. A short climb brings the Langenberg, at 843 m the highest point of North Rhine-Westphalia. Beyond the historic Richtplatz court site the route drops back into the Willingen ski slopes and finishes at the visitor centre, where the Ettelsberg cable car and the Hochheideturm are close by.