The Idar Forest (German: ''Idarwald'',

Celtic Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to: Language and ethnicity *pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia **Celts (modern) *Celtic languages **Proto-Celtic language *Celtic music *Celtic nations Sports Foot ...

: ''"id ar"'' - hill forest above the land) is part of the

Hunsrück The Hunsrück () is a long, triangular, pronounced mountain range, upland in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It is bounded by the valleys of the Moselle (river), Moselle-Saar (north-to-west), the Nahe (south), and the Rhine (east). It is continued ...

low mountain range in the German federal state of

Rhineland-Palatinate Rhineland-Palatinate ( , ; ; ; ) is a western state of Germany. It covers and has about 4.05 million residents. It is the ninth largest and sixth most populous of the sixteen states. Mainz is the capital and largest city. Other cities are ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

Geography

The Idar Forest lies in the

districts A district is a type of administrative division that in some countries is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or counties, several municipalities, subdivisions ...

Bernkastel-Wittlich Bernkastel-Wittlich (German language, German: ''Landkreis Bernkastel-Wittlich'') is a district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It is bounded by (from the north and clockwise) the districts of Vulkaneifel, Cochem-Zell, Rhein-Hunsrück, Birkenfeld ...

and

Birkenfeld Birkenfeld () is a town and the district seat of the Birkenfeld (district), Birkenfeld Districts of Germany, district in southwest Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It is also the seat of the Birkenfeld (Verbandsgemeinde), like-named ''Verbandsge ...

in the northeast of the

Saar-Hunsrück Nature Park The Saar-Hunsrück Nature Park () was established in 1980 and covers an area of just under 2,000 km² in the German states of Rhineland-Palatinate and the Saarland. The authority responsible for the nature park is the Saar-Hunsrück Nature P ...

. It lies more or less in the triangle formed by the villages of

Morbach Morbach is a Municipalities of Germany, municipality that belongs to no ''Verbandsgemeinde'' – a kind of collective municipality – in the Bernkastel-Wittlich Districts of Germany, district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It is also a state ...

(in the northwest),

Rhaunen Rhaunen is an ''Ortsgemeinde (Germany), Ortsgemeinde'' – a Municipalities of Germany, municipality belonging to a ''Verbandsgemeinde'', a kind of collective municipality – in the Birkenfeld (district), Birkenfeld Districts of Germany, distri ...

(northeast) and

Idar-Oberstein Idar-Oberstein () is a town in the Birkenfeld (district), Birkenfeld Districts of Germany, district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. As a ''Große kreisangehörige Stadt'' (large city belonging to a district), it assumes some of the respons ...

(southeast), but apart from Morbach – does not extend as far as these places. The underlying rocks are primarily made up of Lower

Devonian The Devonian ( ) is a period (geology), geologic period and system (stratigraphy), system of the Paleozoic era (geology), era during the Phanerozoic eon (geology), eon, spanning 60.3 million years from the end of the preceding Silurian per ...

quartzite Quartzite is a hard, non- foliated metamorphic rock that was originally pure quartz sandstone.Essentials of Geology, 3rd Edition, Stephen Marshak, p 182 Sandstone is converted into quartzite through heating and pressure usually related to tecton ...

Mountains

Amongst the highest

mountain A mountain is an elevated portion of the Earth's crust, generally with steep sides that show significant exposed bedrock. Although definitions vary, a mountain may differ from a plateau in having a limited summit area, and is usually higher t ...

s in the Idar Forest are: * An den zwei Steinen (766 m) * Kahlheid (766 m) * Steingerüttelkopf (757 m) * Ruppelstein (755 m) * Idarkopf (746 m) - crowned by the Idarkopf Tower * Usarkopf (724 m)

Bodies of water

Streams

The following

stream A stream is a continuous body of water, body of surface water Current (stream), flowing within the stream bed, bed and bank (geography), banks of a channel (geography), channel. Depending on its location or certain characteristics, a strea ...

s rise in, or on the edge of, the Idar Forest: * Dhron * Idarbach (Nahe) - rises between Erbeskopf and Kahlheid * Idarbach (Hahnenbach) - rises north of the Idarkopf near

Hochscheid Hochscheid is an ''Ortsgemeinde'' – a municipality belonging to a ''Verbandsgemeinde'', a kind of collective municipality – in the Bernkastel-Wittlich district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. Geography Location This rural municipality l ...

* Rhaunelbach * Steinbach

Lakes and reservoirs

The following

lake A lake is often a naturally occurring, relatively large and fixed body of water on or near the Earth's surface. It is localized in a basin or interconnected basins surrounded by dry land. Lakes lie completely on land and are separate from ...

s and

reservoir A reservoir (; ) is an enlarged lake behind a dam, usually built to water storage, store fresh water, often doubling for hydroelectric power generation. Reservoirs are created by controlling a watercourse that drains an existing body of wa ...

s are located in, or on the edge of, the Idar Forest: * Steinbach Reservoir on the Steinbach

Sources

*Uwe Anhäuser: ''Heimat am Idarwald.'' Literaturverlag Dr. Gebhardt und Hilden, Idar-Oberstein 2001, .

External links

Idarkopf
{{Coord missing, Rhineland-Palatinate Central Uplands Landscapes of Rhineland-Palatinate Regions of Rhineland-Palatinate Forests and woodlands of Rhineland-Palatinate Natural regions of the Hunsrück Mountain ranges of Rhineland-Palatinate