The Saar-Hunsrück Nature Park () was established in 1980 and covers an area of just under 2,000

km² The square kilometre (square kilometer in American spelling; symbol: km2) is a multiple of the square metre, the SI unit of area or surface area. In the SI unit of area (m2), 1 km2 is equal to 1M(m2). 1 km2 is equal to: * 1,000,000 squar ...

in the German states of

Rhineland-Palatinate Rhineland-Palatinate ( , ; ; ; ) is a western state of Germany. It covers and has about 4.05 million residents. It is the ninth largest and sixth most populous of the sixteen states. Mainz is the capital and largest city. Other cities are ...

and the

Saarland Saarland (, ; ) is a state of Germany in the southwest of the country. With an area of and population of 990,509 in 2018, it is the smallest German state in area apart from the city-states of Berlin, Bremen, and Hamburg, and the smallest in ...

. The authority responsible for the

nature park A nature park, or sometimes natural park, is a designation for a protected area by means of long-term land planning, sustainable resource management and limitation of agricultural and real estate developments. These valuable landscapes are pres ...

is the Saar-Hunsrück Nature Park Society (''Verein Naturpark Saar-Hunsrück'') with its headquarters in

Hermeskeil Hermeskeil () is a city in the Trier-Saarburg district, in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It is situated in the Hunsrück, approx. 25 km southeast of Trier. Its population is about 5,900. Data Hermeskeil is the seat of the ''Verbandsgemeind ...

. In Hermeskeil the society runs an "experience museum" and one of six information centres.

Towns and villages

In the

, the nature park lies wholly within the town boroughs and local municipalities of

Perl Perl is a high-level, general-purpose, interpreted, dynamic programming language. Though Perl is not officially an acronym, there are various backronyms in use, including "Practical Extraction and Reporting Language". Perl was developed ...

Mettlach Mettlach (; Moselle Franconian: Mettlich) is a municipality in the district Merzig-Wadern, in Saarland, Germany, situated on the river Saar, approximately northwest of Merzig, and south of Trier. The headquarters of Villeroy & Boch are in Mett ...

Losheim am See Losheim am See is a municipality in the district Merzig-Wadern, in Saarland, Germany. It is situated on the southern ridge of the Hunsrück, approximately 10 kilometers northeast of Merzig, and 35 kilometers northwest of Saarbrücken. In 1974 a ...

Merzig Merzig (, , Moselle Franconian language, ''Moselle Franconian:'' ''Meerzisch''/''Miërzësch'') is a town in Saarland, Germany. It is the capital of the district Merzig-Wadern, with about 30,000 inhabitants in 17 municipalities on 108 km². I ...

Weiskirchen Weiskirchen is a municipality in the district Merzig-Wadern, in Saarland, Germany. It is situated in the Hunsrück, approx. 20 km northeast of Merzig, and 25 km southeast of Trier Trier ( , ; ), formerly and traditionally known in ...

Wadern Wadern () is a municipality in the federal state Saarland, which is situated in the southwest of Germany. It is part of the district Merzig-Wadern. Wadern consists of 13 urban districts with approximately 16.000 inhabitants. With 143 inhabitants p ...

, Beckingen,

Rehlingen-Siersburg Rehlingen-Siersburg is a municipality in the district of Saarlouis, in Saarland, Germany. It is situated on the river Saar, approx. 8 km northwest of Saarlouis, and 30 km northwest of Saarbrücken. Geography Location Rehlingen is ...

Wallerfangen Wallerfangen (; , ) is a municipality of Saarlouis district, Saarland, Germany. Located west of Saarlouis and along the French border, it is the seat of the villages of Ittersdorf, Ihn, Leidingen, St. Barbara, Kerlingen, Gisingen, Rammelfangen, ...

Nonnweiler Nonnweiler () is a municipality in the district of Sankt Wendel, in Saarland, Germany. Overview It is situated approximately 20 km northwest of Sankt Wendel, and 30 km southeast of Trier. The village is well known for the " Hillfort of ...

Tholey Tholey () is a municipality in the Sankt Wendel (district), district of Sankt Wendel, in Saarland, Germany. It is situated approximately west of Sankt Wendel, and north of Saarbrücken. History Local history The first traces of settlement in t ...

Nohfelden Nohfelden is a municipality in the Sankt Wendel (district), district of Sankt Wendel, in Saarland, Germany. It is situated approximately north of Sankt Wendel, and southwest of Idar-Oberstein. It was formed during administrative reform in Januar ...

, Oberthal,

Namborn Namborn () is a municipality in the district of Sankt Wendel, in Saarland, Germany. It is situated approximately 7 km north of Sankt Wendel, and 25 km southwest of Idar-Oberstein. It is approximately 40 km northeast of Saarbrücken ...

, St. Wendel and

Freisen Freisen is a municipality in the district of Sankt Wendel, in Saarland, Germany. It is situated approximately 12 km northeast of Sankt Wendel, and 20 km southwest of Idar-Oberstein. The public transportation in Freisen/Oberkirchen is th ...

. It also lies partly on the territories of

Lebach Lebach () is a town in the district of Saarlouis, in Saarland, Germany. It is approximately northeast of Saarlouis and north of Saarbrücken Saarbrücken (; Rhenish Franconian: ''Sabrigge'' ; ; ; ; ) is the capital and largest List of ci ...

, in its municipalities of

Dörsdorf Dörsdorf is a municipality in the district of Rhein-Lahn, in Rhineland-Palatinate, in western Germany. It belongs to the community of Aar-Einrich. Geography The place is about four kilometers The kilometre ( SI symbol: km; or ), spelt ...

and Steinbach, the municipality of

Schmelz Schmelz is a municipality in the district of Saarlouis, in Saarland, Germany. It is situated approximately 15 km northeast of Saarlouis, and 25 km northwest of Saarbrücken. The town of Schmelz (which translates to Glaze) is made of s ...

, in its parishes of Dorf, Limbach and Michelbach and within the municipality of

Eppelborn Eppelborn (Saarländisch: ''Ebbelborn'' or ''Ebbelborre'') is a municipality in the district of Neunkirchen, in Saarland, Germany. The municipality encompasses 7 villages: Eppelborn, Wiesbach, Dirmingen, Humes, Habach, Hierscheid, Bubach-Calmeswi ...

, in the parish of Dirmingen.Saarländische Verordnung über den „Saar-Hunsrück Nature Park“ vom 1. März 2007, zuletzt geändert durch Verordnung vom 30. Juli 2010
/ref> In

the nature park lies on parts of the territories of the following boroughs and collective municipalities:

Saarburg Saarburg (, ) is a city of the Trier-Saarburg district, in the state of Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany, on the banks of the river Saar in the hilly country a few kilometers upstream from the Saar's junction with the Moselle. Now known as a touris ...

Konz Konz () is a city in the Trier-Saarburg district, in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It is situated at the confluence of the rivers Saar and Moselle, approx. 8 km southwest of Trier. Konz is the seat of the ''Verbandsgemeinde'' ("collective mu ...

Ruwer The Ruwer is a river in Germany with a length of . It is a right tributary of the Moselle. The valley of the Ruwer is a part of the Moselle wine-growing region near Trier in the state of Rhineland-Palatinate. It is famous for its Riesling wines, ...

Kell am See Kell am See is a municipality in the Trier-Saarburg district, in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It is situated in the Hunsrück, approx. 20 km southeast of Trier Trier ( , ; ), formerly and traditionally known in English as Trèves ( , ) ...

(

Trier-Saarburg Trier-Saarburg (; ) is a district in the west of Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. Neighboring districts are (from the north and clockwise) Bitburg-Prüm, Bernkastel-Wittlich, Birkenfeld, Sankt Wendel (Saarland), and Merzig-Wadern (Saarland). To ...

Thalfang The climatic spa (''Luftkurort'') of Thalfang is an ''Ortsgemeinde'' – a municipality belonging to a ''Verbandsgemeinde'', a kind of collective municipality – in the Bernkastel-Wittlich district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It is the seat ...

Bernkastel-Kues Bernkastel-Kues () is a town on the Middle Mosel in the Bernkastel-Wittlich Districts of Germany, district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It is well-known for its winegrowing. The town is a state-recognized health resort (''Erholungsort''), ...

(

Bernkastel-Wittlich Bernkastel-Wittlich (German language, German: ''Landkreis Bernkastel-Wittlich'') is a district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It is bounded by (from the north and clockwise) the districts of Vulkaneifel, Cochem-Zell, Rhein-Hunsrück, Birkenfeld ...

), Kirchberg/Hunsrück (

Rhein-Hunsrück-Kreis Rhein-Hunsrück-Kreis is a district () in the middle of Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. The neighbouring districts are (from north clockwise) Mayen-Koblenz, Rhein-Lahn, Mainz-Bingen, Bad Kreuznach, Birkenfeld, Bernkastel-Wittlich, Cochem-Zell. His ...

Herrstein-Rhaunen Herrstein-Rhaunen is a ''Verbandsgemeinde'' ("collective municipality") in the district of Birkenfeld, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. The seat of the ''Verbandsgemeinde'' is in Herrstein. It was formed on 1 January 2020 by the merger of the former ...

Birkenfeld Birkenfeld () is a town and the district seat of the Birkenfeld (district), Birkenfeld Districts of Germany, district in southwest Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It is also the seat of the Birkenfeld (Verbandsgemeinde), like-named ''Verbandsge ...

and

Baumholder Baumholder () is a town in the Birkenfeld (district), Birkenfeld Districts of Germany, district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany, in the Westrich, an historic region that encompasses areas in both Germany and France. The town of Baumholder is the a ...

(

) and parts of the free municipality of

Morbach Morbach is a Municipalities of Germany, municipality that belongs to no ''Verbandsgemeinde'' – a kind of collective municipality – in the Bernkastel-Wittlich Districts of Germany, district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It is also a state ...

(

Landkreis Bernkastel-Wittlich Bernkastel-Wittlich (German language, German: ''Landkreis Bernkastel-Wittlich'') is a district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It is bounded by (from the north and clockwise) the districts of Vulkaneifel, Cochem-Zell, Rhein-Hunsrück, Birkenfeld ...

) and the large county town of

Idar-Oberstein Idar-Oberstein () is a town in the Birkenfeld (district), Birkenfeld Districts of Germany, district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. As a ''Große kreisangehörige Stadt'' (large city belonging to a district), it assumes some of the respons ...

(

).Rhineland-Palatinate State Act for the "Saar-Hunsrück Nature Park" dated 14 February 1980, last amended on 20 July 1985
/ref>

Core zones

There are seven core zones in the Rhineland –Palatinate part of the park, which are specially protected: * Mannebach Valley * Saar Valley-Leukbach Valley *

Osburger Hochwald The Osburger Hochwald ("Osburg Upland Forest") lies southeast of the Osburger Hunsrück and has an area of 75 square kilometres. Together with the Schwarzwälder Hochwald, it forms the ''Hochwald'' or "upland forest" of the Hunsrück, the southw ...

* Western part of the Schwarzwälder Hochwald * Eastern part of the Schwarzwälder Hochwald-

Idar Forest The Idar Forest (German: ''Idarwald'', Celtic language, Celtic: ''"id ar"'' - hill forest above the land) is part of the Hunsrück low mountain range in the German federal state of Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. Geography The Idar Forest lies ...

* Neuhof-Abentheuer * Southeastern Hochwald Kirschweiler/Buhlenberg

Rivers and streams

Mountains and hills

The mountains and hills in the Saar-Hunsrück Nature Park include the following – sorted by height in metres (m) above

sea level Mean sea level (MSL, often shortened to sea level) is an mean, average surface level of one or more among Earth's coastal Body of water, bodies of water from which heights such as elevation may be measured. The global MSL is a type of vertical ...

(''

Normalnull ("standard zero") or (short N. N. or NN) is an outdated official vertical datum used in Germany. Elevations using this reference system were to be marked (“meters above standard zero”). has been replaced by (NHN). History In 187 ...

'' or NN; unless otherwise stated these are referenced from state map service): *

Erbeskopf The Erbeskopf () is a mountain in the Hunsrück range in central Germany. At a height of , it is the highest point in the state of Rhineland-Palatinate, as well as the highest point of German territory on the western bank of the Rhine. It lies ...

(816.32 m), Schwarzwälder Hochwald * An den zwei Steinen (766.2 m),

* Kahlheid (766.0 m), Idar Forest * Sandkopf (756.8 m), Schwarzwälder Hochwald * Steingerüttelkopf (756.6 m), Idarwald * Ruppelstein (755.2 m), Schwarzwälder Hochwald * Idarkopf (745.7 m), Idar Forest * Usarkopf (725.0 m), Idar Forest *

Rösterkopf The Rösterkopf in the Osburger Hochwald (Hunsrück in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and ...

(708.1 m),

* Friedrichskopf (707.4 m), Schwarzwälder Hochwald

Saar-Hunsrück-Steig

One of the nature park's projects is the 218-kilometre-long "premier"

long-distance path A long-distance trail (or long-distance footpath, track, way, greenway) is a longer recreational trail mainly through rural areas used for hiking, backpacking, cycling, equestrianism or cross-country skiing. They exist on all continents exce ...

, the Saar-Hunsrück-SteigHomepage Saar-Hunsrück-Steig
retrieved 24 January 2014 from

on the border with

Luxembourg Luxembourg, officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, is a landlocked country in Western Europe. It is bordered by Belgium to the west and north, Germany to the east, and France on the south. Its capital and most populous city, Luxembour ...

via

and the Roman city of

Trier Trier ( , ; ), formerly and traditionally known in English as Trèves ( , ) and Triers (see also Names of Trier in different languages, names in other languages), is a city on the banks of the Moselle (river), Moselle in Germany. It lies in a v ...

to the Prims Reservoir, continuing via the

, the circular rampart of Otzenhausen, to the Wildenburger Kopf and finally to

Literature

* Hans-Martin Braun and Carsten Braun: ''Saar-Hunsrück Nature Park - Stille Schönheit''. Tecklenborg Verlag, Steinfurt, 2002,

External links

Saar-Hunsrück Nature Park, Hermeskeil

Literature about the Saar-Hunsrück Nature Park
in the Saarländische Bibliographie

References

Article entitle
''Wie hoch is der Erbeskopf nun wirklich?''
dated 17 January 2008 at lvermgeo.rlp.de (retrieved 31 January 2013) {{DEFAULTSORT:Saar-Hunsruck Nature Park Nature parks in Rhineland-Palatinate Geography of the Hunsrück Protected areas established in 1980 1980 establishments in West Germany