A gentle yet at times challenging walking experience on the wings of the hawk in Grimm Heimat Nordhessen

Its symbol is the hawk – a bird of prey of the Habichtswald forests. Its flight over the landscape symbolises a feeling of freedom and adventure. Unexplained phenomena and natural and cultural features have been, and still are, sources of inspiration. This is where many of the Brothers Grimm’s fairy tales have their roots.

The Habichtswaldsteig is a mostly gentle and safe trail that appeals to leisure walkers. This roughly 85 km trail starts in Zierenberg, leads to the Edersee and crosses the Naturpark Habichtswald. It links Hesse’s largest juniper heaths on the Dörnberg with the last primeval forests on the steep slopes of the Edersee, the World Heritage Site of the Kasseler Bergpark with the World Natural Heritage of the beech forests in the Nationalpark Kellerwald-Edersee.

The Habichtswaldsteig promises unforgettable walking days through a unique cultural landscape. You move through a setting where the mythological roots of our ancestors lie and where many fairy tales are set. The landscape enchants with mighty pollarded trees, bizarre rock formations, flower‑filled meadows, ancient beech woods and sparkling streams, with crumbling castles and picturesque half-timbered houses. Fairy-tale rest spots and information boards at natural and cultural points of interest keep the fairy-tale theme alive.