Rothaarsteig Trail - Grönebacher Dorfpfad

From the hiking board at the Küstelberg Straße parking lot, we turn right and climb uphill on a grassy path to the country road. Turn left along the road for about 100 m and then uphill to the "Schlade" leisure facility. An old royal road used to run along here.Old royal roadThe Alte Königsstraße leading from Frankfurt to Soest crossed the Heidenstraße in Winterberg. Its oldest course led via Grönebach up to the Alter Hagen and further north. It was later relocated to the Ruhrtal as the so-called Alte Landstraße or Sauerländer Weg. Two hollow road-like terraces have been preserved here over a length of around 200 m.We follow the old royal road uphill to a bench with a beautiful view of the Westernau valley. We continue along the edge of the forest to the right and then straight ahead with great views of the Hildfeld-Grönebach-Küstelberg valley landscape. We walk through the picturesque Hachmecke valley, always along the stream, down into the Hilletal valley to the former Strickmühle mill. Passing a tree nursery, we reach the Grönebach-Niedersfeld country road. We keep left for approx. 50 m and reach the old railroad embankment of the former Steinhelle-Medebach narrow-gauge railroad at Haus Sander. Steinhelle-Medebach light railroadFrom 1902 to 1953, a narrow-gauge railroad ran from Steinhelle to Medebach. Increasing road traffic and decreasing freight volumes led to the "end" after a good 50 years of operation. The railroad embankment is well preserved in the Hilletal.Now we follow the old railroad embankment to the right - past the sports field - to the Hillebrücke bridge with its staggered round arches. First to the right, then steeply uphill to the left, we reach the tracks of the old "Iäselpoad". IäselpoadThis old path led from Küstelberg to the former knitting mill. The grain was transported from Küstelberg to the mill and ground on donkey backs. Friends of local history have cleared about 150 m of the Iäselpoad and made it accessible.We walk to the right along the Iäselpoad, cross a tarmac field path and reach the Grönebacher Steinacker on a beautiful grassy path. Always within sight of the village with its church tower, the trail leads uphill through an old hollow path and continues to the right along the slope of the Mosenberg to the Antoniusstein. Antonius stone from 1731The Antonius Stone in Grönebach dates from 1731, the one in Hildfeld from 1704. St. Anthony of Padua is particularly revered in the Sauerland. Candles burn day and night in front of the wayside shrine, which has been protected by a small stone chapel since 1958. We follow the signposts to the right downhill into the Springetal valley to the country road and then up to the viewpoint on the Egge (680 m). This is the highest point of the Grönebacher Dorfpfad. On the other side of the mountain, the trail then descends into the Westernau valley and continues to the left to the "Ruipes-Ropes-Hütte " with a large rest area at the Entenwiese. A beautiful path takes us past the football pitch and village fountain back to Grönebach.