Ice made this ridge. Hochwald 10 lies in a belt of low hills between Xanten, Uedem and Kalkar that the glaciers of the Saale ice age shoved up from the floor of the Rhine valley, a pile of sand and gravel pushed into a long arc that now stands a few dozen metres above the plain. That is not much, but on a landscape this flat it is enough to hold a forest and give the whole area a different character, with drier soil, pines, birches and oaks, and views that open suddenly where a clearing allows.
Geologists call it a push moraine, and for a rider that means the ground does something unusual for the Niederrhein: it rises and falls. Do not expect mountains. A few gentle climbs, a bend through a cutting where the sandy soil is exposed, a slow descent to a fringe of fields: that is the scale of it. But after kilometres of ruler-straight farm roads, the sensation is welcome, and the woodland air is a degree or two cooler in summer.
The ground is sandy and well-drained, which is good for walking, mushrooms and horses, and less good for riding off the tarmac, so stay on the road. Loose sand blows across the carriageway at junctions after dry spells, and in spring pollen from the pines coats everything yellow. Birdlife is rich: buzzards circle over the clearings, woodpeckers knock in the old beeches, and in dusk light you can sometimes catch a roe deer stepping out of the shade. Wild boar are present in the Lower Rhine woods too, and a collision with one is no joke, so take care at twilight.
Fuel is easy in Uedem, about seven kilometres away, and Xanten and Kalkar are each a few minutes further. For a hot drink and a hearty plate, a Gasthof in any of the surrounding villages will serve you a plain Niederrhein meal without fuss, and nobody will mind riding gear. There is no water or shelter in the forest itself, so bring what you need.
October, with the beech leaves copper and the first mist drifting through the trunks, gives the best light and the least traffic.