Wildnis Trail Eifel

Four days on the trail of the wildcat through the Eifel National Park: from the hedgerow country around Monschau in the south to the Rur valley in the north. Around 85 kilometres and 1,900 metres of climbing, spread over four stages of 18 to 25 kilometres through a park where nature has been left to rewrite the rules since 2004.

The trail is waymarked end to end with the stylised wildcat head of the National Park; at junctions the markings leave no doubt. The route alternates deep beech and oak forest with open high plains: the Dreiborn plateau, once a military training ground, now slowly returning to wilderness, with the deserted village of Wollseifen and the former Nazi college at Vogelsang as silent witnesses. The chain of lakes along the Rur, the Obersee and Urftsee, frames days one and two.

The wildcat is the park's emblem and its comeback story: after vanishing from the Eifel for decades, it returned on its own paws once the military left and the forest grew quiet, and the trail is named for it. The park's principle is radical for Germany: since 2004, three quarters of its area is left entirely to nature, so fallen trees stay where they fall and hikers walk on boardwalks through dying forest that is deliberately allowed to become wilderness again. September and October add the deer rut to this backdrop, when stags bellow across the valleys at dusk.

Start and finish are both reachable by train and bus. Return from Zerkall with the Rurtalbahn along the lakes, then the Trail-Express shuttle to Höfen. Overnight in the official Nationalpark hosts at each stage town; wild camping is forbidden inside the park. September and October are prime: bronze beech forests and the red deer rut, when stags call across the valleys. Book two to three weeks ahead for autumn weekends.