Alter Pilgerweg [Südrunde]

Stage 1: Hamborn Castle - St. Lucia Chapel: 5.9 km
The starting point is the overview board in the small parking lot opposite the castle. Descend the steps immediately to the right of the electricity box. The path ends at the road, which we follow to the left. We follow the district road (K 2) for about 20 meters to the left and then turn right onto the field path. The path now runs along the edge of the forest through the Despental valley, slightly but steadily uphill. After just under 1.5 kilometers, at an overview board immediately before entering the forest, we turn right.
The path now climbs steeply along the edge of the forest. At the top, the path bends to the right. An asphalt path branches off to the right, we keep straight ahead and continue along the edge of the forest. At the next fork, we keep left and enter the forest. A few meters further on, we again have two options. We decide to take the right-hand path. We follow this path past a pine grove, then along the edge of the forest until we come to an asphalt path after a good kilometer. There we turn left. At the beginning of the forest, we come to the small "Hunnewinkel" parking lot. We turn left across the parking lot and keep right at the next fork in the path. The forest path leads downhill past a barrier. We reach a T-junction. Here it is advisable to first take a detour to the right to the Teufelsstein (Devil's Stone), around 150 meters away, which offers us a beautiful view over the Altenautal valley.
To follow the Old Pilgrims' Trail, we turn left at the T-junction and continue above the Altenautal valley. The path leads around side valleys in two large bends before ending at a T-junction. We turn right and reach the baroque Kluskapelle St. Lucia chapel and the Kapellenhof farm café after just under 400 meters.
(If we don't want to take this detour, we only walk downhill for around 100 meters and then take a sharp left onto the gravel path.)
 
Stage 2: "St. Lucia" clusters chapel - "Zur Hilligen Seele" chapel: 5.5 km
From the clusters chapel, we walk back along the familiar path for around 300 meters to the fork in the path, where we keep right. We now walk about 1.5 kilometers through the beautiful Bilken valley, gently ascending along the edge of the forest. At the end, we turn left and continue along an asphalt path. At the T-junction, which we reach after around 100 meters, we turn right. We follow the forest path for a good kilometer, then turn left onto a natural path. At the T-junction after about 500 meters, we turn right and walk past the Nonnenbusch cemetery forest. On the right in the forest we see the tastefully designed place of worship. To the left, a path leads to the so-called Lindenplatz, which is ideal for a sunny break.
At the crossroads shortly after the construction trailer, we turn left. In front of us we see the parking lot of the cemetery forest, on our left a picnic bench, a shelter and an overview board of the Old Pilgrims' Trail. We follow the path along the parking lot and walk to the district road (K 2), which we cross in a straight line. We can already see the "Zur Hilligen Seele" chapel ahead on the right. We continue along the grassy path until we reach an asphalt farm track at the so-called "Karlsplatz". We keep to the right and reach the "Zur Hilligen Seele" chapel after just under 100 meters.
 
Stage 3: "Zur Hilligen Seele" chapel - Hamborn Castle: 2.6 km
We walk back to Karlsplatz. There we take the unpaved path ("Kapellenpatt"), which starts to the right of the bench. The path leads in a straight line along the edge of the forest and can be a little muddy in some places after rainfall.
We pass a farm, cross the asphalt Husener Weg and walk a good 400 meters further along the "Kapellenpatt". At the crossroads where the water tank built in 1957 stands, we turn right. At the next crossroads, we keep straight on. Ahead on the right, we can see the Hamborn Castle estate. At the next opportunity, we turn left. Our path is lined with fruit trees. The schoolyard is on the left and the school garden on the right. We cross the intersection in a straight line. At the end of the path (Binderweg), we turn left.
After the "Alte Schule" café, we turn right. Hamborn Castle is on the right, on the left a little ahead we see a green electricity box and an overview board of the Old Pilgrims' Way.