They are the landmarks of the Ruhr region. Between Duisburg and Dortmund, there are well over a hundred piles of rubble from the mining industry. Some slag heaps are just a few metres high, others reach over 100 metres. Enough for ambitious mountain training. If you compose a circuit over several spoil tips, you will end up crossing a small low mountain range. The slag heaps themselves are developed with paths, and the cycle paths are used as connections. In this way, tours of 100 kilometres and over 1000 metres in altitude are possible. Worth seeing: Haniel spoil tip near Bottrop (works of art at the summit), Beckstraße spoil tip (Tetraeder observation tower), Prosperstraße spoil tip and Rheinelbe spoil tip in Gelsenkirchen. Riding on the trails off the main roads is not always legal, but is usually tolerated. Bikers can be found on the Deusenberg (Dortmund) and on the Hoppenbruch and Hoheward spoil tips (Herten). While there are already official downhill and enduro trails on the Hoppenbruch spoil tip thanks to the initiative of the Freeride Club Herten, the excavators are still working on cross-country trails on the Hoheward spoil tip. David's tips for refreshments: French fries on the road "Im Emscherbruch", burgers at Ponyhof Gut Steinhausen (Wiedehopfstr. 200 in Herne).
Bike get-togethers The Freeride Club Herten meets on Sundays at 10 am at the Hoppenbruch spoil tip (info: www.frc-herten.de). The "Halden bikers" hit the trails on Wednesdays at 6 pm.
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