Runenweg, X7

The X 7 Rune Trail, a main hiking trail of the Teutoburg Forest Association, connects the Sennerand at the former princely forester's lodge Kreuzkrug near Schlangen heading north through the Teutoburg Forest, the Lippische Hügelland and the Nordlippische Bergland with the Weserbergland and the European long-distance hiking trail E 11 (The Hague-Talinn (Estonia) and Weserbergland Trail at the Luhdener Klippen in Rinteln.

We start our tour on the edge of the Senner at the Fürstliches Forsthaus Kreuzkrug in Schlangen,
after a moderate ascent to the Große Egge, we hike steeply downhill past the
European Hiking Cross (E 1 -R 1) to the Externsteine, an outstanding natural sight in Germany.
After crossing the historic town center of Horn with its 14th century castle and the "Stinkebrink" moorland area, we reach the spa gardens of Bad Meinberg. In the Detmold area, the Leistrup Forest awaits us with its impressive blocks of stone, several cubic meters in size and estimated to be more than 200 million years old. The trail leads us, in sections along the pass, to the "Ortmühle", the center of Lippe. Over the Wiembecker Berg, with Brake Castle in view, we walk through the old Hanseatic town of Lemgo. Through the Staff Landscape Park with its wide views, we reach the Försterteiche ponds, and after the steep ascent to Teimer (326 m), we reach the former watermill "Corves Mühle" in Hohenhausen in the Kalletal valley. After overcoming the Rafelder Berg, we pass the Schlosskrug in Heidelbeck, already mentioned in 1257. After a rest at the "Zweiländereck", we walk through a large wooded area to the Möllenbeck monastery complex, first built in 896 and one of the best-preserved late medieval monastery complexes in Germany. Our route runs south of the leisure facilities at Doktorsee lake into the town of Rinteln, the beginnings of which can be traced back to the late 11th century, and Rinteln was also a university town from 1619 to 1810. The last section of the hike takes us up to the cliff tower on the Luhden cliffs to the E11 and Weserbergland Trail, the destination of our hike.