Belm between TERRA.tracks and the Autumn Fair

Belm combines hiking trails, glacial landscapes and archaeological traces with a long-standing Autumn Fair tradition. The trails differ in length, number of stations and theme; erratic boulders and their history also shape the landscape around Gattberg and Vehrte. When planning, you can first decide whether you are particularly interested in outdoor activities, geology or culture.

Compare hiking trails by length and theme

The gentle foothills of the Wiehen Hills invite you to enjoy extended hikes and bike rides around Belm, with recurring views of the surrounding area. Four TERRA.tracks, covering a total of 30 kilometres of trails, lie within the municipality. One example is the TERRA.track Gattberg: including its variant, it has ten trail stations along a 4.3-kilometre route.

The Schwarzkreide Adventure Route offers a different focus. It is a 3.5-kilometre circular trail with seven stations explaining where and how clay and black chalk were once mined. The two trails differ in length and number of stations; the Schwarzkreide Route is explicitly designed as a circular trail and focuses on the former extraction of these materials. The Wittekindsweg long-distance hiking trail also passes through the municipality of Belm, including Belm-Vehrte.

Erratic boulders and the landscape at Gattberg

The “Steinernes Meer” nature reserve lies between Belm and Vehrte, on the wooded Gattberg. It is home to numerous erratic boulders deposited towards the end of the penultimate glacial period, the Saale glaciation, around 200,000 years ago. Their date of formation places the stones within the landscape’s distant past.

Another geological feature in the nearby area is the Butterstein. The erratic boulder is made of granite, weighs around 70 tonnes and originally came from Scandinavia.

Prehistory and the Autumn Fair

The Sloopsteine are located near Haltern and are the remains of a massive burial chamber. One of the six original capstones is now missing; the supporting stones on the south side are fully intact. The trapezoidal ground plan of the Stone Age structure is also still clearly visible. The Sloopsteine are among the best-preserved prehistoric tombs.

The Belm Autumn Fair has been held for more than 100 years. It takes place on the second weekend in October at the Belmer Tie and later increasingly along Lindenstraße, known as the “fairground mile”. Fairground operators offer rides, shooting galleries, food stalls and sweets. If the fair is the reason for your trip, check the specific annual programme before planning your dates.

When looking for a hotel in Belm, your reason for travelling is a practical place to start: hiking, geological and prehistoric traces, or the Autumn Fair can each be the focus of your stay. The differences between a trail with stations, a themed circular route and a long-distance hiking trail can help you identify the interests that best suit your plans.

More topics in the wider Osnabrück destination

The wider Osnabrück destination offers other, distinct attractions. At the Tuchmacher Museum Bramsche, fluffy wool blankets are made on working machines that are over 100 years old. At the Bad Essen-Barkhausen Dinosaur Tracks, the experience area includes two dinosaur replicas, detailed information boards and a circular trail. The signposted dinosaur trail is a 16-kilometre circular hiking route.

Discover more destinations: Glandorf, Bohmte, Bersenbrück, Bad Laer, Alfhausen, Hasbergen, Wallenhorst, Gehrde.

Go to the wider travel overview: Osnabrück.