This is more of a niche hiking experience, but one that could still prove interesting from various perspectives. The route travels up and around several slag deposits from 19th and 20th-century mining operations. Once upon a time, this region was so industrialized that finding any kind of vegetation was challenging. Decades later, though, nature is slowly returning. Lingering in the air, though, is the vastness of time that entire generations of people lived and worked in the mines, which are now slowly fading into the past.

How to Get Here:

• The hike starts at the Dortmund-Kurl station.