Bunker Trail Schlindermanderscheid

• Park and begin in the hamlet of Fridbësch, not far from Hoscheid.
• Public transport: “Um Friedbesch“. Bus 136 from Ettelbruck.
• 13km, moderately difficult; some experience and good hiking boots required.

Turns out that there is only one bunker on the Bunker Trail, and it comes right at the end. I was beginning to get worried…

Actually, that opening sentence is only half true. From the starting point in the hamlet of Fridbësch you can choose to do this circular hike in either direction. Choosing anti-clockwise, the bunker comes almost at the beginning. But I chose clockwise and found myself plunging into a deep, deep valley through dark woods, the towering hills more reminiscent of the Vosges or Black Forest than “merely” the Ardennes.

It’s an utterly gorgeous path, constantly weaving up and down, side to side, here and there through the romantic woods and abundance of spring wildflowers. After some spectacular views over Luxembourg’s most infamous ridge walk – the Molberlee (left above) – and up, up over an open plateau, the trail takes you to the cusp of another of the region’s famous “lee” ridges, the Hoflee. It’s time to descend once again.

Good hiking boots and an even better head for heights are required to make a safe descent down the “lee” – this isn’t a trail for the littlest ones. The stark contrast of the burnt-out silhouetted trees (a result of a 2018 forest fire) and the vibrant broom lends this landscape a unique, almost alien feeling. With an ear-popping average gradient of 30%, you’ll soon be losing altitude and heading back into the forest once again. Time for a break, perhaps?

The second half of the hike perhaps doesn’t quite live up to the drama of the first, but this is the Eislek and gorgeous viewpoints are never too far away. I took a short deviation from the marked trail to enjoy a well-known view over Kautenbach (below, top right), but thoughts were already turning to somewhere that I had never visited before: the Fridbësch bunker.

This bunker is one of many places in the Grand-Duchy that sheltered local resistance members and deserters from the Nazi regime during the Second World War. At least seventeen young men took shelter in this cramped structure hidden deep in the silent woods, with their supplies brought to them by law-defying locals from Fridbësch at enormous personal risk. Unlike several other bunkers in Luxembourg, this isn’t the original structure, but a lovingly restored and maintained replica, recreated some 20 years ago. The serenity of the surroundings and simplicity of this shared living space is a powerful combination: you can almost hear the frightened whispers of its occupants of eighty years ago and feel their courage through oppression in the crisp, clear air of the Eislek.

Leaving the bunker, it’s only a few hundred metres back to the starting point. The official length is 13.6km, but I clocked it as slightly shorter, despite my detour. But let’s stop splitting hairs and just say this is a (fairly) challenging and extremely satisfying hike; it packs several of the key sights of the Escapardenne Lee Trail into a more accessible, circular trail and throws in a fascinating historical twist too. In short, a fabulous afternoon in the woods!

Link to trail map on Geoportal: http://g-o.lu/3/CzWR

(c) 2024 Jonathan Orr