The Dreiborn Plateau, the nature reserve in the Morsbach Valley and the view across the Urft Valley from Modenhübel give Morsbach a clear focus: experience nature without losing sight of local commemorative culture. The landscape and cultural attractions are easy to distinguish from one another. The wider destination of Schleiden offers additional activities.

Plateau, valley and viewpoint

Morsbach lies on the Dreiborn Plateau near Eifel National Park. The local landscape includes the open plateau, the Morsbach Valley nature reserve and the view across the Urft Valley from Modenhübel. These different starting points let you plan your days around a particular landscape: open plateau, valley or viewpoint.

Modenhübel is about 500 metres from the edge of Morsbach, at an elevation of 485 metres. In good visibility, the view from there extends to the former Vogelsang complex and the Kermeter hills in Eifel National Park. The viewpoint also offers a view across the Urft Valley. Nearby Vogelsang is open to visitors as an international place of remembrance and education.

From Morsbach, hiking routes lead across the open plateau, through the nearby nature reserve in the Morsbach Valley and towards the Urft Reservoir. The destinations offer different landscapes: plateau, valley or waterside scenery. If you are planning a specific hike, check the conditions on the relevant trails in advance.

Chapels and local commemorative culture

Morsbach has Corpus Christi chapels built after the war. The chapel in the lower village also serves as a war memorial and is decorated during the Corpus Christi processions. Here, religious tradition and local remembrance come together. This is a different cultural focus from the landscape around the plateau, valley and Modenhübel; you can include each separately in your travel plans.

More options in the wider destination of Schleiden

In the wider destination of Schleiden, the Eifel National Park Centre is located at the Vogelsang IP Forum. It is open year-round and serves as the starting point for regular ranger tours through Eifel National Park. The “Vogelsang IP Forum, Schleiden” bus stop is on the grounds. By car, you can reach the centre via the B 266 to Vogelsang 70, 53937 Schleiden. Check current timetables and tour dates before travelling.

The following hiking options also form part of the wider destination of Schleiden and differ considerably in the time they require. The EifelSpur “Sun, Moon and Stars” is an easy eight-kilometre hike with a stated duration of two hours. It leads through a landscape with distinctive flora and fauna and offers views of the starry sky in the Eifel International Dark Sky Park. The Rur-Olef Route, by contrast, is a moderately difficult, 57-kilometre, three-day hike starting in Schleiden-Gemünd and passing through Eifel National Park. Comparing the two brings out two different travel options: a shorter hike and a multi-day tour.

In Schleiden, the observatory of the “Stars Without Borders” astronomy workshop at the Vogelsang IP International Place regularly offers public stargazing sessions. At the birdwatching station on Lake Urft, you can observe cormorants, great crested grebes, ducks and grey herons. Two telescopes with fifteen-fold magnification are installed there at different heights, making it easy for wheelchair users to watch birds too.

Discover more destinations: Gemünd

Go to the wider travel overview: Schleiden.