The Idarkopf near Stipshausen in 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 ...

is a

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 ...

, , within the

Idar Forest The Idar Forest (German: ''Idarwald'', Celtic language, Celtic: ''"id ar"'' - hill forest above the land) is part of the Hunsrück low mountain range in the German federal state of Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. Geography The Idar Forest lies ...

in the German counties of

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 ...

and

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 ...

. It is one of the highest mountains in the state of Rhineland-Palatinate.

Geography

Location

The Idarkopf lies in the northeastern part of the

and within 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 ...

. Its summit rises around 2 km northwest of the village of Stipshausen (county of Birkenfeld) and 4 km southeast of the village of

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 ...

(Bernkastel-Wittlich). Whilst the summit and the southeastern flank of the mountain belong to Stipshausen, its western flanks up to the crest and northern to northeastern areas belong to the village of Weitersbach (county of Birkenfeld) which lies 3.5 km east-northeast of the summit (both distances

as the crow flies The expression ''as the crow flies'' is an idiom for the most direct path between two points. Etymology The meaning of the expression is attested from the early 19th century, and appeared in the Charles Dickens novel ''Oliver Twist'' (1838): ...

). The Idarbach stream flows past the Idarkopf to the northeast.

Towers

About 200 metres northwest of the summit of the Idarkopf at a height of 744.2 m stands the observation tower known as the Idarkopf Tower, from which there are views, for example, of the

Taunus The Taunus () is a mountain range in Hesse and Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany, located north west of Frankfurt and north of Wiesbaden. The tallest peak in the range is '' Großer Feldberg'' at 878 m; other notable peaks are '' Kleiner Feldberg' ...

, the

Donnersberg The Donnersberg (; literally: "thunder mountain") is the highest peak of the Palatinate () region of Germany. The mountain lies between the towns of Rockenhausen and Kirchheimbolanden, in the Donnersbergkreis district, which is named after th ...

across the

, to the

Eifel The Eifel (; , ) is a low mountain range in western Germany, eastern Belgium and northern Luxembourg. It occupies parts of southwestern North Rhine-Westphalia, northwestern Rhineland-Palatinate and the southern area of the German-speaking Com ...

and of the

Westerwald The Westerwald (; literally 'Western forest') is a low mountain range on the right bank of the river Rhine in the States of Germany, German federal states of Rhineland-Palatinate, Hesse and North Rhine-Westphalia. It is a part of the Rhenish Ma ...

. Around 300 metres northeast of the summit at a height of about 738 m stands a

transmission tower A transmission tower (also electricity pylon, hydro tower, or pylon) is a tall structure, usually a lattice tower made of steel that is used to support an overhead power line. In electrical grids, transmission towers carry high-voltage transmis ...

References

External links

{{commons category
Idarkopf winter sports region
Mountains under 1000 metres Mountains and hills of the Hunsrück Birkenfeld (district) Bernkastel-Wittlich