Gravel route in the Reichswald – within a stone’s throw

If you are looking for a nice gravel route on the border with the Netherlands and Germany, look no further. The Reichswald, just across the border near Nijmegen, offers everything you need for a beautiful route with a story. Because if you are already doing cross-country riding through the forests, don’t forget to check out the stones. We spent an afternoon with the guys from Soul Media and it didn’t disappoint. Gravel in the Reichswald is something everyone should try. However, this afternoon ended for the writer a bit on a low note, but that wasn’t the fault of the route!

Text: Sander Kolsloot, photos: Gijs Ferkranus – TRLS

Start = finish of this gravel route

While I was in the MyWheels shared car parking lot Restaurant de Diepen On the way, a group of men are sitting at a camper van drinking coffee. Against the camper van, some expensive mountain bikes lean over, and I think I’ve hit my travel companions. That’s not true at all. I look at my phone and there’s the first message with ‘on the way’. As it turns out later. Three of us got a bit tired during the journey between Arnhem, where the friends from Specialized provided some test equipment, and the border at Milsbeek. We’re in the tip of Limburg, a few hundred meters from the border with Gelderland. Eethuis de Diepen is also the last house left in the Netherlands, because from here the next stop is Germany.

The forest in

The longer wait is finally rewarded. My travel companions Merlijn, Gijs, Sjoerd and Harm (we do qualify as MAMIL’s, sorry guys) will be here soon. Let’s get to know each other first, because we only chatted on the phone. Gijs’ LandRover is quickly loaded and after everyone has let off their steam we can get started. 50 kilometers of gravel driving through the Reichswald, where you can tick off a lot of the peaks in this forest.

Project ‘Stein’

What makes this gravel route in the Reichswald so special are the following two things:

1. All the peaks of the Reichswald that were mapped by Gerd Siebers and marked with stone markers. It’s quite funny that this pastor from the town of Nütterden actually left behind a beautiful legacy out of boredom. Because being a pastor in Nütterden isn’t necessarily a day job. He invents something new. He wants to map all the peaks higher than 50 meters in the adjacent forest and (not unimportant) also mark them. With a total of 31 ‘summit stones’ he completed the task in 1981 and mapped all the peaks higher than 50 meters. A wonderful way to fully immerse yourself in this forest
2. The Steinmännchen by artist Marcus Gern, which resemble creatures derived from the Stoanerne Mandl in the vicinity of Bolzano. This is also a special place. Whether Marcus got his inspiration from Gerd is, of course, another question. On the summit stones there are sometimes also small stones that seem to form male shapes. They support each other. The artist Gern, who happens to also come from Nütterden, has piled thousands of stones on the edge of the forest over the past ten years. The (unofficial) artwork was named Steinmännchen (stone men). At first they look like little dolls.

Gravel route up and down

The route starts from the trailhead, soon entering the forest. In the forest, you can see why our friend Siebers has chosen such a beautiful project. It goes up and down steep slopes. It’s steep climbs, but you don’t notice them when you start. On every peak you come across another beautiful piece of rock, neatly marked with the height meters. Individually, the rocks aren’t particularly impressive, but when combined they add up to over 500 meters in elevation in just under 50 kilometers.

From swinging single tracks to ‘straight-to-the-point’

The route is not just a straight climb. The variety also lies in the sometimes very narrow singletracks that then lead off further on into a beautiful wide forest trail. A forest trail that simply screams to be ridden. That makes it a wonderful route where you can recover from the ‘spicy climbs‘ and also enjoy it.

Refueling

You can stop for a quick refuel halfway through the village; there is also a tap there at the cemetery to fill up the canisters, although on nice days you might want to sit down for a while on a terrace.

Gravel route Reichswald

Would you like to ride this amazing gravel route in the Reichswald as well? Then check out this route below and enjoy it!