The Kottenforst is a large forest on the hills west of Bonn, a remnant of the woodland that once covered the Rhine plain, and its northern part, near Alfter, is a quiet, old-fashioned place of oak and beech. For centuries it was a hunting forest of the Electors of Cologne, who ruled from Bonn, and the straight rides that cut through it, laid out for hunting parties, are still visible as long avenues between the trees. A hunting lodge of the eighteenth-century elector Clemens August stands in the forest to the south.
The name Domhecken contains the word for hedges, and it points to an old kind of boundary. In the Rhineland, hedges were once planted and woven into dense barriers to mark property or to keep game in or out. Whatever the exact origin of the name, the forest has long been a managed landscape, and you can feel that in its straight rides and old banks. The ground is damp in places, and in spring the floor is carpeted with wood anemones and bluebells, while in autumn the beech leaves turn the whole forest copper.
The roads around the Kottenforst are gentle. They run between villages and fields, with long avenues of old trees and easy bends, and the surface is generally good. Traffic builds up close to Bonn at rush hour, but at other times the lanes are quiet. The forest itself is crossed by many tracks, but most are closed to motor vehicles, so leave the bike at the edge and walk. Cyclists and dog walkers are common at weekends.
Alfter, with nearly twenty-two thousand people, is the nearest town, and Bornheim and Bonn are close behind, so fuel, food and beds are no problem. Bonn, the former capital of West Germany, is a pleasant, easy-going city with the Rhine and the Siebengebirge hills on its doorstep. The area is also known for its fruit orchards and for Rhenish dishes such as sauerbraten and Himmel un Ähd, a plate of black pudding, apples and mashed potato.
The ride from here links the forest to Xanten, far downriver, where the Romans built a great city on the Lower Rhine. Choose a morning in spring or a clear day in autumn, when the forest light is at its best.