Eselsrunde Bechen (Bergisches Land)

Goods once had to be transported to large cities like Cologne using pack animals. Donkeys were also used for this, which is why the people of Cologne called their suppliers from the area around Bechen "donkeys". And this nickname has survived to this day, and the Bechen donkeys wear it with pride. This is why this tour, marked as hiking trail D7, around the Künten district of Bechen in the Bergisches Land is known as the Eselsrunde (Donkey Round).

The Eselsrunde begins in the center of Bechen at the Catholic parish church of St. Antonius Einsiedler. The Neo-Gothic building was constructed from 1876 to 1878 and was supplemented a hundred years later by a polygonal concrete structure. The Neo-Gothic interior of the Bechen church is largely preserved. Behind the church lies the old rectory, a charming presbytery from the church's construction period.

Past the rectory, the Eselsrunde heads north, leaves the asphalted path, and climbs up to the source area of the Osbach, a three-kilometer-long stream that flows into the Dhünn. You walk directly towards the Hohemühle forebay of the Große Dhünntalsperre reservoir.

At the district road, you turn left and then immediately right again to continue the Eselsrunde above Rodenberg. It goes steadily up and down through the shady forest in the direction of the Große Heide farmstead.

After crossing the road, the Eselsrunde leads on a well-maintained field path through forests and meadows to Keffermich. Here, keep left and walk through the Kochsfeld residential area to the main road that connects Bechen with Oberodenthal.

At the main road, turn sharply right and walk downhill across a meadow. On the right, at the edge of the forest, lies the source hollow of the Kochsfelder Bach, which accompanies us through the forest to the Liesenberger Mühle. The Eselsrunde runs above the Liesenberger Mühle and turns in a left arc towards the Scherfbachtal valley.

The Eselsrunde leads uphill over the north slope of the Scherfbachtal valley. The higher you go, the lighter the forest becomes. The return route offers beautiful views of the Rhine plain before you arrive back in Bechen – guided by the widely visible church tower of St. Antonius Church.