The Emscher Weg - probably the most unusual river bike path in Germany
The Emscher Weg from Holzwickede to Dinslaken is one of the most unusual river bike paths in Germany. Here the structural change can be experienced up close. While the first half of the Emscher has already been extensively renatured and cyclists cycle past green oases, the lower reaches of the Emscher are still more like a sewer. But here, too, nature will soon reclaim its place.
One of the largest renaturation projects in Europe
This long-distance cycle path is just over 100 kilometers long and is fully signposted and leads through the northern Ruhr area. While the Ruhr has always been a leisure paradise in the south, the Emscher has taken on the tough role of the workhorse. It had to drain the sewage of an entire region, because underground drainage was not possible for a long time due to mining and the associated mountain subsidence. Today, the waste water is laid underground and the Emscher itself is renatured - one of the largest renaturation projects in Europe.
Start of the Emscher Weg in Holzwickede
The Emscher trail starts on Emscher Quellehof in Holzwickede. Getting there is easily possible by public transport from Dortmund. At first, the Emscher remains inconspicuously small, only from that Phoenix lake in Dortmund the cycle path runs alongside the river. Exciting industrial monuments like the Phoenix West Skywalk or the Hansa coking plant are only a few pedal turns away from the route and are worth a visit.
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The renatured Emscher
From Dortmund, the Emscher Weg leads north past Castrop-Rauxel to Henrichenburg. From here you cycle west again, crossing the Rhine-Herne Canal and finally reaches Herne, where the Emscher increasingly resembles a sewage canal - but now with clean water. The Emscher Weg takes you past Recklinghausen and through the north of Gelsenkirchen, where the North Star Park as an important anchor point on the Industrial heritage route waiting for you.
The former Köttel basin of the Ruhr area
The Emscher used to be known as the Köttelbecken, especially in the north of Essen. In Bottrop, the Emscher Weg leads through the Bern Park, a former sewage treatment plant, which was transformed into a small cultural park as part of the RUHR.2010 Capital of Culture. In Oberhausen, the Emscher Weg also leads you close to the Gasometer Oberhausen .
The new, old and small Emscher
The Emscher originally continued from Oberhausen to Duisburg on the Rhine. Due to the mountain subsidence, however, the course was artificially shifted to the north twice. There is the "Alte Emscher", which, among other things, through the Landscape Park Duisburg-Nord leads, and the "Kleine Emscher", which runs through Duisburg-Marxloh. Today, the actual Emscher flows into the Rhine near Dinslaken and since 2022 even into a newly designed small estuary delta. This is also where the Emscher Weg for cyclists ends. The Emscher Weg is part of the RevierRouten "mine ride","tasting piece","steel kitchen" and "water“. Jochen also wrote an article about the Mein Ruhrgebiet blog Emscher way written.
All information about cycling on the Emscher Weg
Blog article: The Emscher - 100 kilometers by bike from Holzwickede to Dinslaken
The Emscher Weg was on Jochen's bucket list "What I still have to experience by bike in the Ruhr area" for a long time... Until he finally cycled it. On the blog he takes you on his 100 kilometer bike ride from Holzwickede to Dinslaken.
