Ride Reports: Gravel fun in the Saarland
Posted By Gravel Union
On 27 May 2020
Timo Rokitta from the Nibelungengravelride sent us in this great write-up of a gravel bike adventure that he put together last September – a gravel tour of the Saarland region of Germany with a total distance of 500kms and nearly 6000m of climbing
The Saarland is a federal state in south-west Germany. It is the smallest state in Germany, with just under a million inhabitants. Saarland is bordered to the north and east by the German state of Rhineland-Palatinate, in the south by the French Grand Est region and in the west by the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg. Saarland has retained its personal character and is a paradise for gravel bikers.
The Saarland Cycle Path is the perfect way to discover the region with a gravel bike. It encircles Saarland in a total distance of 350 kilometers. We started our gravel trip from home and rode with our gravel bikes 75kms to the start of the route at Homburg.
We hit our first challenge pretty quickly - a long climb through forest to 600 meters altitude on the Höchen mountain. The demanding forest descent that followed made up for the pain of climbing! We headed north, riding past abandoned villages on an old graveled railway line. The path headed through transparent forests and close to the source of the River Nahe, which rises here. We literally flew over the slopes with our gravel bikes.
At Losheim we followed a small idyllic stream on a forest path again. At Mettlach we encountered the Saar river. Here we licked ice creams to replenish energy used on the hard gravel roads. We followed the Saar and discovered a dream path that follows the river for several kilometers.
After a short steep climb, we entered the river valley of the Moselle - on one side of us was Luxembourg, on the other was France. From here, the landscape became even more lovely - we were in the Saargau, where we rioe through farms and small villages. In Überherrn we found an Italian ice cream parlour and as it had been raining for four hours, we ate hot apple strudel! From here we rode on an old Huguenot path. After another big climb we were back in the Saar river valley and saw the state capital Saarbrücken.
The Saarland cycle path followed the river over old towpaths to France. After Saareguemines we turned left into the Bliestal. After Homburg we arrived back at the starting point. Now it was only 75 kilometers to home….
Link to the route:
https://www.alltrails.com/de/explore/map/saarland-radweg-aus-trekkingbike-5-2012-up-wein-und-wellness--3/?referrer=gpsies