Bopping around Baldeneysee

Keeping with our July 2020 theme, we set off to the great outdoors and hiked around the Baldeneysee over the weekend. The Baldeneysee is a large reservoir about an hour away from Düsseldorf. We discovered it back in May on our trip home from The Hague. We had stopped for a brief peek at the water, but couldn’t stay too long. At that time, we said we would have to come back. And so, that’s what we did!

On Saturday morning, we put on our masks, hopped on the S-Bahn, and made our way to Essen. Our stop brought us right to the reservoir, where we were quickly greeted with a picturesque view of the water. The sun was shining, sailboats were bobbing off in the distance, and little ducklings were swimming around the piers. It was an inviting scene!

We had two hikes planned for our day, one to the Neue Isenburg castle ruins and the other to Korte Klippe, a scenic lookout. We set off for the castle first, following the path along the reservoir and eventually splitting off to climb up the hill. The trails were lined with blackberry bushes that were overflowing with fruit; unfortunately, the berries weren’t quite ripe enough to eat, but give them a week or two and boy, will there will be some tasty treats along that hike!

We reached Neue Isenburg and enjoyed wandering around the vine-covered ruins. We had the place to ourselves, which always makes exploring ancient ruins more fun! We looked out over the water and valley that lay below, taking in the view of the green fields and little neighborhoods surrounding the water. What a view that would be to live with! We sat on the castle wall and enjoyed our picnic lunch before setting off to Korte Klippe.

Korte Klippe wasn’t too far away from the castle and was a popular destination. The views were similar to those at the castle, however, less obstructed by trees and overgrowth. We sat on the bench, looking out over the valley, listening to the birds chirping, soaking in the sunshine, and engaging in a little people watching. It was a lovely place to relax.

We made our way back down the hill to the edge of the reservoir and continued our walk along the path. We stopped to admire the large flock of swans drifting in the water and again to watch the paddle boarders and sailboats. The atmosphere was perfect! Eventually, we made our way to the train depot and back home, enjoying yet another beautiful day out in nature while exploring more of Germany.