Touring Cycle Route Castles Route
This cycle tour is full of cultural highlights and takes you directly past two magnificent gorges that are still privately owned, former mills and one of the first blast furnaces in Germany. The tour ends with a ride along the Sorpe dam. This tour is suitable for experienced cyclists with a certain level of fitness. Unfortunately, some sections on country roads are unavoidable;
moderate
Distance 26.8 km
Distance: 27 km
Metres in height: Ascent 550 m and descent 554 m
Trail conditions: Asphalted road and gravel road
Difficulty: Medium to difficult
Author’s recommendation
Places of interest: Observation tower in Langscheid, Melschede Castle, Wocklum Castle, Luisenhütte

Author
Jeroen Tepas
Update: February 23, 2014
Difficulty
moderate
Technique
Stamina
Experience
Landscape
Highest point
391 m
Lowest point
224 m
Best time of year
Jan
Feb
Mar
Apr
May
Jun
Jul
Aug
Sep
Oct
Nov
Dec
Track types
Show elevation profileTips and hints
Start
Sundern-Langscheid (290 m)
Coordinates:
DD
51.353689, 7.964076
DMS
51°21'13.3"N 7°57'50.7"E
UTM
32U 427864 5689667
w3w
Destination
Sundern-Langscheid
Turn-by-turn directions
The cycle tour starts at the Sorpedamm car park. From the Seebühne you first cycle up the ramp behind the public toilets to the street. Directly opposite, you go up another ramp to the next street. You have reached Langscheider Strasse, which you follow all the way up to the village. Immediately after the bakery, you will see the Langscheid monument and observation tower on your right. Take advantage of the stop to regain your strength and enjoy the view high above the roofs of Langscheid and the exceptional view of the Sorpesee. The route continues. Follow the Langscheid road up past the sports field until it turns into the L544 road. After the second bend you reach a gravel path on the left, which leads you past the baroque Melschede Castle. Continue along this gravel path until you reach the Melscheder Mühle. Here the route turns right and then immediately left onto the asphalt road towards Balve. After about 600 m, turn right onto a gravel path into the forest, which leads you to the moated castle of Wocklum with its riding facilities, where the international horse show "Balve Optimum" takes place every year. You now cross the riding facility and drive past the castle in the direction of Balve – Luisenhütte. Directly before the bridge and the Wocklumer Mühle, turn left to the Luisenhütte. This is the oldest known blast furnace plant in Germany and houses a museum and refreshment stop. Behind the Luisenhütte, the cycle path takes you along a gravelled forest path to Mellen. When you arrive in Mellen, you first cycle through a small housing estate and then turn right and then left at the end of the road. Now follow the main road through Mellen to the T-junction. Now turn right in the direction of Langenholthausen and after approx. 300m turn left into the Langewende path, which leads you through the fields and meadows to the country road. Turn right here and follow the road to the Sorpesee. Once you arrive, you can take a break at the Meilenweit restaurant and enjoy the view from the lake terrace. Now it is up to you. Either turn left directly back to Langscheid (approx. 4km), or follow the cycle path to the right around the Sorpesee until you arrive back at the Sorpedamm (approx. 11km).
Parking
At the Sorpedamm (day ticket 3,50 Euro)Coordinates
DD
51.353689, 7.964076
DMS
51°21'13.3"N 7°57'50.7"E
UTM
32U 427864 5689667
w3w
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Arrival by train, car, foot or bike
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Localization
Parts of this content were machine translated using German as the source language
Reviews
Difficulty
moderate
Distance
26.8 km
Duration
2:10 h
Ascent
390 m
Descent
391 m
Highest point
391 m
Lowest point
224 m
Statistics
2D
3D
Maps and trails
- Waypoints
- Waypoints
Distance
km
Duration
: h
Ascent
m
Descent
m
Highest point
m
Lowest point
m
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