Söhrebahn cycle path - Söhrebahn-Radweg

Local bike signpost with information on the route via the Söhrebahn

The Söhrebahn cycle path(unofficial title) is a 10 km long cycle path from kassel-Bettenhausen over Lohfelden to Sohrewald-Wellerode. The cycle route is well suited, for example, to a trip to Stellbergsee in the Söhre and can alternatively also be started in the Buga so that you can use the Herkules-Wartburg cycle path would drive along the Wahlebach.

Kassel-Bettenhausen station, the former beginning of the Söhrebahn

Route profile

The Söhrebahn cycle path starts today at Leipziger Platz in Bettenhausen
The former Wellerode Wald terminus, today the village community center
  • Length: 10 km
  • Mark: The Söhrebahn cycle path does not have its own signage.
  • Signposting: Largely uninterrupted signposting via the standard local cycle signposts. Often is the hint via Söhrebahn to find.
  • Slopes: Continuous ascent from Kassel up to Söhrewald-Wellerode.
  • Path condition: Graveled sections can be found in the Kassel district of Forstfeld and between Lohfelden-Vollmarshausen and Söhrewald-Wellerode.
  • Suitable bike: Touring bike with a 7-speed hub gear is sufficient, but more gears are better, especially when driving further into the mountainous Söhre.
  • Family suitability: The Söhrebahn cycle path is suitable for families throughout, as it runs largely off the beaten track and is well secured.
  • Inline suitability: Due to several sections on gravel paths, the Söhrebahn cycle path is not suitable for inline skiers.

background

Kassel - Lohfelden
Beginning of the railway cycle path on Ochshäuser Straße in Bettenhausen

The Söhrebahn was a 10.6 km long branch line from kassel-Bettenhausen to Wellerode Wald. It was in operation from 1912 to 1971 and was operated by Söhrebahn AG, and from 1955 by Söhrebahn GmbH. Original plans to extend the railway line via Wattenbach to Grains were not implemented for cost reasons. Passenger traffic on the Söhrebahn was discontinued in September 1966, and freight traffic was discontinued in March 1971.

getting there

Shelter on the railway cycle path between Vollmarshausen and Wellerode

With public transport

Lohfelden - Söhrewald
On the now paved railway line, leisurely uphill through Lohfelden

Since the Kassel-Bettenhausen station is not served by passenger traffic, the Kassel main station the closest train station to the starting point of the Söhrebahn cycle path, Leipziger Platz bus stopbus stopLeipziger Platz the tram lines run 4 and 8. Parallel to the Söhrebahn cycle path over Lohfelden and also at the bus stopbus stopForest The runs directly at the former Wellerode Wald terminus of the Söhrebahn Bus route 37 (DB Busverkehr Hessen). As a rule, the buses also take 1-2 bicycles with them free of charge, provided the operating situation permits.

By bicycle

Large signs and posts are supposed to ensure safety at the intersections

On the Herkules-Wartburg cycle path, or. Lossetal cycle path you can drive from downtown Kassel through the Buga and along the Wahlebach to Forstfeld. Both cycle routes meet on Windhoek Road, just a few meters after the start of the Railway cycle path, on the Söhrebahn cycle path. If you continue cycling along the Wahlebach and follow the local cycle route signs, you will come across the Söhrebahn cycle path at the Lohfelden outdoor pool. In Sohrewald-Wellerode there is no connection to other cycle paths, with the exception of the local cycle route network.

Route description

The well-signposted local cycle network invites you to continue your journey through the Söhre

The Söhrebahn cycle path mostly runs on the former Söhrebahn railway line, which is partly asphalted, but partly gravel. Only in Lohfelden there is a longer section away from the former railway line, which has now been closed. For a detailed cycling map, please simply click on the POIs that will immediately direct you to the described position.

Bettenhausen - Wellerode (10 km)

From 1 Leipziger Platz you drive on Ochshäuser Straße over the Kassel – Waldkappel railway line. Shortly before the confluence with Forstfeldstraße, the asphalted railway cycle path begins, on which the partly heavily traveled Ochshäuser Straße is crossed. Along the ForstFeldGarten you can reach the 2 Windhoek Street, via which too Herkules-Wartburg cycle path and Lossetal cycle path run away. About the following gravel section, also called Discovery tour Kassel signposted, you come to the Forstbachweg. Continue straight ahead uphill on the Eibenweg, which runs parallel to the overgrown railway line of the Söhrebahn, to Heidenkopfstraße. Follow this downhill past the new development area "An der Söhrebahn" to Ochshäuser Straße and cross under it 3 Bundesautobahn 7. You cycle either on the Ochshäuser Dorfstraße or on a small gravel footpath between this and the Wahlebach to the bus stopbus stopsports ground (Line 37), behind which you turn right and reach the Lohfelden outdoor pool via Kampweg.

The continuously rising and paved section of the railway cycle path across the main road to the former begins at the Lohfelden open-air swimming pool 4 Lohfelden station, recognizable by the larger open space and the old station building, as well as further over the so-called gorge to Langen Straße. Since the former railway line of the Söhrebahn was built over by a residential area in the following section after it was closed and is no longer recognizable today, you can alternatively follow the signs for the local cycle network via Berliner Straße to 5 Riedweg, where for the first time you can find a reference to the route over the Söhrebahn on one of the cycle signs. Via the Riedweg you can quickly return to the footpath and bike path on the former Söhrebahn railway line, which is graveled from now on to Wellerode and initially leads along a railway embankment on the edge of Vollmarshausen to Vollmarshäuser Straße. This is followed briefly to about the level of the bus stopbus stopgraveyard (Line 37), but before it turns south into Buchenweg.

Just behind the former 6 Vollmarshausen station begins, initially parallel to Buchenweg, the next and last section of the railway cycle path. The sometimes narrower graveled footpath and bike path are now mostly followed in the shade of the trees at a shelter that did not belong to the Söhrebahn and to the west of the 7 Friends of Nature House "Under the Oaks" passing steadily uphill. From the Söhrebahn a gravel farm road leads down to this and the bus stopbus stopFriends of Nature House (Line 37). Soon the former is 8 Reached Wellerode station, the former station building was demolished in the 1980s due to dilapidation. Together with the Kassel-Steig, of which there is also an information board about the Söhrebahn on the former railway line at the level of Steinkreuzerstraße, you leave the outskirts of Wellerode again and cycle past the 9 Atonement cross (with a small information board) southwest of Wellerode. Finally, the former Söhrebahn railway line turns in an easterly direction and you drive over the Zechenweg past a playground to Wellerode. There the Söhrebahn cycle path ends after ten kilometers on the former 10 Wellerode Wald station, which is now used as a village community center. On Wattenbacher Strasse near the bus stopbus stopForest (Line 37) there is also an old cart with an information board about the former train station.

trips

Stellbergsee

The Stellbergsee (popularly also Mondsee) is a 1.4 hectare open-cast mine south of Wellerode near the state road 3460. Although the water quality can only be classified as satisfactory, it is a popular excursion destination, which is also popular with bathers who are around find space around the lake on large sunbathing lawns. But also anglers and model boat owners use the lake, which can be reached from Wellerode via the local cycle network. The distance between Söhrebahn-Radweg and Stellbergsee is 5.2 km according to the local signs, as is the distance from Stellbergsee via Landesstraße 3460 and Wollrode downhill to Guxhagen train station (KBS 610).

literature

  • Regional cycle route map Kassel - city and surrounding area - Scale 1:30 000 with contour lines, € 4.50, published by the Surveying and Geoinformation Office of the City of Kassel (5th edition, 2011)
  • HR Habichtswald / Reinhardswald Nature Park - Topographic leisure map 1:50 000, ISBN 978-3-89446-319-9 , 9.50 €, published jointly by the Hessisch-Waldeckischer Gebirgs- und Heimatverein e.V. and the Hessian State Office for Soil Management and Geoinformation (2012).
  • MK Meißner-Kaufunger Forest Southern Leinetal - topographic leisure map 1:50 000, ISBN 978-3-89446-318-2 , 9.50 €, published jointly by Werratal Tourismus Marketing GmbH and the Hessian State Office for Soil Management and Geoinformation (2012).
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