Welcome to the Immerather Maar nature reserve! On 66 hectares you can discover here that volcanoes are about more than just lava. With its ramparts, slopes, banks and bodies of water, the maar offers a variety of habitats for valuable flora and fauna. A three-kilometre circular trail shows you the green side of the volcano. Follow the path down into the basin, first through the copper beech forest, which finds good growing conditions on the volcanic subsoil.
Blackthorn and gorse bushes grow on the eastern slope of the maar. Below is the water-filled semicircle of the originally circular lake. In order to gain land, the maar was drained in the 18th century. The drainage ditch later fell into disrepair, allowing the water to build up again.
Today, the shoreline, fen and meadow form valuable retreats. Willows and dog roses can be found in the bank bushes, while cattails and pond horsetail are increasingly taking over the original lake bed in the wetter reed beds. Rare birds, frogs, dragonflies and butterflies have also found a home in the green volcano.
