Only light, single-axle carts or riders could negotiate these steep paths. If a track became too deep due to constant driving, the axles of the carts would get stuck on the center rib. The carters then had to find a new lane parallel to the old one. This was no problem, as there was no forest here at the time, but open land.
Again and again, the old traces of hollow paths can be discovered parallel to the ROTHAARSTEIG in the spruce forest. At the beginning of the 20th century, however, many hollow ways were filled in as part of the expansion of roads, especially in agricultural areas.
From hollow way to long-distance road
The deep hollows in the terrain are hollow ways of an old long-distance road. It led from the Rhineland via Olpe, Eslohe and Olsberg to the Brilon plateau and on towards Obermarsberg. The origin of the hollow ways probably goes back to the Middle Ages. They were still used as an army road during the Seven Years' War (1756-1763).
