Discover Niederkrüchten

Niederkrüchten offers several different starting points for planning your trip. At Hariksee, these include a circular walk with lake views and activities on the water; at Elmpter Schwalmbruch, the focus is on observing wildlife. There is also a designated circular route for cyclists and pedestrians, as well as Juniper Heath, a distinctive landscape feature. This lets you choose excursions by theme and route length.

Hariksee: circular walk and activities on the water

The 3.5-kilometre A 5 circular walk connects the two excursion destinations at Hariksee and offers views of the lake along the way. The route combines a manageable distance with lake views. Visitors can rent boats at Inselschlösschen and Mühlrather Mühle. You can explore the lake under your own power or take a trip on the “Patschel” excursion boat. The options differ in how you get around: you can go out in a rented boat or choose a trip on the excursion boat.

Compare circular routes by distance

The “Rund ‘Lauf’ Niederkrüchten” route is designated as a 54.44-kilometre circular tour for cyclists and pedestrians and runs around Niederkrüchten. By comparison, the A 5 circular walk at Hariksee is considerably shorter, at 3.5 kilometres. The two distances represent different route formats; cyclists and pedestrians are explicitly named as user groups for the longer circular route.

Juniper Heath and wildlife watching

At Elmpter Schwalmbruch, a wooden boardwalk extends over part of a wildlife conservation pond. From there, you can observe the wildlife of the marshland at close range. This offers a different focus from the lake views at Hariksee: here, the wildlife of the marshland is the main attraction. The juniper heath in Niederkrüchten is one of the distinctive landscape features of Schwalm-Nette Nature Park and adds another specific landscape feature to the selection.

In the wider Viersen destination

The district of Viersen, with its towns and municipalities and Schwalm-Nette Nature Park, is an important part of the Lower Rhine tourism destination. The following routes and excursion destinations belong to this broader regional setting. The Viersen District Rail Trail is 122.8 kilometres long and runs on or alongside disused railway lines through open fields and quiet forests. It leads to the Krickenbecker Seen lake district.

A good starting point for the Viersen circular route is the boat landing on the Niers near Viersen-Süchteln. The route initially follows the Niers for several kilometres through the Saalbruch nature reserve. A detour leads to the Clörather Mühle viewpoint. Another takes you to Dülken’s historic town centre at cycle junction 40, with its history trail and Narrenmühle. This old post mill houses a carnival museum. The circular route also passes St. Maria Hilfe der Christen parish church in Dornbusch. Check current route conditions before setting off.

Discover more destinations: Elmpt, Nettetal, Tönisvorst, Viersen, Brüggen, Grefrath, Schwalmtal, Kempen.

Back to the main travel overview: Viersen.