Discover Nidderau: trails, nature and local history

Nidderau offers everything from natural monuments and viewpoints to hiking and cycling trails and historic town centres. This lets you plan your trip around landscapes, outdoor activities and culture. The Wartbaum on the Hohe Straße above Nidderau is a striking natural monument and a viewpoint steeped in history. The site is freely accessible year-round, and admission is free.

Cycling and hiking trails with their own character

The Hohe Straße Regional Park Route is 38 kilometres long and signposted in both directions. It largely follows the course of an old trade route and intersects the railway cycle path and the Bonifatius Route in Nidderau. The Huguenot and Waldensian Trail is a cultural long-distance cycle route of the Council of Europe; its Main-Spessart regional loop passes through the Nidderau districts of Eichen, Windecken and Heldenbergen. This brings historical connections and several cycling routes together in your route planning.

The 16.9-kilometre Spessart Trail “NidderAuenFährte” starts at Eichen railway station. It leads through the Nidderau natural forest and across meadows with views extending to Frankfurt, the Taunus and the Spessart. The route returns along the Nidder and partly passes through the Wetterau bird sanctuary. These landscapes and the return along the river give this hiking route its distinctive course.

Shorter or themed trails offer a different focus. The Planetary Hiking Trail depicts the solar system as a scale model: it runs from the Willi-Salzmann-Halle in Windecken, along Konrad-Adenauer-Allee, to the Catholic church in Heldenbergen. The hike is informative for all ages. If you would like to explore nature using several senses, the nature discovery trail has numerous hands-on stations for experimenting, touching and smelling. It starts at the information board by the playground on Mühlberg in Windecken and runs through the Windecken and Ostheim districts in two separate loops, each about three kilometres long.

For walks and jogging routes, the map at the large forest car park by the burial forest shows marked routes of varying lengths. As parking conditions may change, check them before your visit. Another way to combine landscapes with regional food and drink is the Main-Kinzig regional loop of the Hessian Apple Wine and Orchard Route, which runs through Nidderau. It passes orchards, teaching gardens and nature trails, cider presses and restaurants, direct sellers, natural monuments and other sights. The loop is currently being revised.

Historic town centres and architectural history

Windecken’s old town lies in the Katzbach valley and is bordered to the north by the Nidder. Despite being largely destroyed during the Thirty Years’ War, its medieval layout has been almost entirely preserved. Culturally and historically significant monuments in Windecken include the Hexenturm (Witches’ Tower) and the town wall. The Hexenturm is also considered a landmark and a building that embodies local identity. Windecken also has significant Iron Age burial grounds.

Heldenbergen’s historic town centre also reflects a range of uses: it is dominated by the Catholic church and includes the rectory, two old school buildings, half-timbered houses and farmsteads, as well as houses once occupied by craftspeople, day labourers and agricultural workers. In Erbstadt, the Pfaffenhof stands as an almost square ensemble of buildings on what is now the main street. These townscapes offer a variety of ways to explore Nidderau’s history as you travel around.

Choose the right base for your trip

When looking for accommodation in Nidderau, you can start by deciding which outings you want to shape your stay: cycling routes, a hike with views, nature stations or historic town centres. Match the specific location of the accommodation to your preferred starting points and destinations.

Discover more destinations

Birstein, Niederdorfelden, Bad Orb, Jossgrund, Rodenbach, Freigericht, Wächtersbach, Langenselbold

For the overview of the wider region: Main-Kinzig District.