Messel & surroundings

The timeline path

From the fossil and local history museum you can hike along the timeline path through the last 4.5 billion years of our earth’s history on a 3.5 km long route. The path ends near the UNESCO visitor center “Zeit und Messelwelten”.

The path is marked by painted footsteps and motif plates with a primeval horse fossil on the path. Each step corresponds to about 900,000 years of earth history. The ages are marked by steles along the way.

Learn more about it here

Four hiking trails around Messel can be found on the Odenwald Tourismus GmbH website under day tours, page 2. The sections of this “cloverleaf” are listed there one below the other:

  • Urpferdchen-Weg,
  • Ölschieferweg,
  • Kranichsteiner Waldweg und
  • Mörsbacher Grund-Runde.

Restaurants and accommodation options

“L’Olivo”

Kohlweg 9,
64409 Messel

Tel. 06159 482

about 8 minutes walk from the museum

“Einsiedel”

Dieburger Straße 263
64287 Darmstadt

Tel. 06159 717884

Direction via Grube Messel to Darmstadt,
about 10 minutes by car

Restaurant & Übernachtung  im “Charlottenhof”

Dieburger Straße 261,
64287 Darmstadt

Tel. 06159 482

Direction via Grube Messel to Darmstadt,
about 10 minutes by car

“Imbiss “Nefis”

Am Bahnhof 2-4
64409 Messel-Grube Messel

Tel. 061597154445

about 15 minutes walk from the museum

“Wohnmobilstandplatz Messel”

Am Sportplatz 1
64409 Messel

Tel. 0615971570

about 5 minutes walk from the museum