Discover Hövelhof

When choosing a hotel in Hövelhof, you can use the tours and cultural sites you want to shape your trip as a guide. Cycling routes, hikes in the Moosheide and insights into the history of the Senne offer different starting points. For the routes, their length, theme and starting point can help you choose activities that suit your stay.

Cycling routes for circuits and longer stages

Hövelhof offers well-developed and clearly marked cycling routes. They make it possible to enjoy short discovery tours as well as long-distance cycle routes that cross borders, and serve as a starting point for bike rides. One specific example of a circuit is the 60-kilometre Senne-Parcours Hövelhof: Along the route, you can experience the nature, landscape and culture of the Senne region. The circular cycling route starts right at Hövelhof railway station.

The EmsRadweg is laid out differently: It starts at the Ems Information Centre in Hövelhof, follows the Ems from there to Emden on the North Sea, and can be ridden in stages over several days. This means you can choose between a circuit with a specified length and a long-distance cycle route with different stages. If you want to plan your trip around a particular route, its course and starting point are useful reference points.

Hiking between the Moosheide and Hövelhof Forest

The maintained hiking trail network in Hövelhof covers around 79 kilometres. Regular inspections and necessary repairs ensure that the trails are clearly marked. Hiking routes lead through dense forests, alongside fields and over gentle hills in the Moosheide nature reserve. The Heimatkundliche Wanderweg offers a short introduction: This themed route, around six kilometres long, focuses on the history of Hövelhof Forest and starts and ends at the hiking car park on Von-der-Recke-Straße.

The starting point at the Ems Information Centre is also connected to hiking: The hiking car park right beside it is a starting point for routes to the Ems springs and through the Moosheide nature reserve. The Mühlen-Tour Hövelhof also crosses the Rixelbruch nature reserve with its dunes. The routes therefore differ not only in length, but also in the theme and landscape they highlight.

Sights and the history of the Senne

The former hunting lodge in Hövelhof is a protected monument, often serves as a local landmark and is a popular spot for photos. It is also the start and finish of the four-kilometre Hövelhof Rally. With its fixed starting and finishing points, the rally offers a distinct way to combine a shorter route with a notable site.

In Hövelhof-Bentlake, the Heimatzentrum Senne uses exhibits and talks to offer insights into the living conditions and way of life of the Senne’s inhabitants around 1900. The centre is spread across five buildings and covers around 1,100 square metres. On activity days, traditional workshops are put back into operation and breadmaking is demonstrated. The visit therefore focuses on something different from trails through the landscape: everyday life and the craft traditions of the Senne.

Models of the Ems

At the Ems Information Centre in Hövelhof, children can use various models to make the Ems spring from its source and guide a ship through the Ems barrage at Gandersum. The models thus feature both the river’s source and a structure further along its course. Together with the nearby starting point of the EmsRadweg, this offers a distinct connection to the Ems, without conflating it with the circuits or hiking trails.

Discover more destinations: Lichtenau, Bad Wünnenberg, Salzkotten, Delbrück, Altenbeken, Herbram, Bad Lippspringe, Barkhausen.

Back to the main travel overview: Paderborn.