Welcome to the Immerather Maar nature reserve! Here, on 66 hectares, you can discover that volcanoes are not just about lava. With its rim, the slopes down to the lake, the banks of the lake and the lake itself, the maar provides diverse habitats for valuable plants and wildlife. A three-kilometre circular trail shows you the green sides of the volcano. Follow the trail down into the basin. At first it takes you through a copper beech forest where the volcanic soil provides good growing conditions.

Sloe and broom bushes grow on the eastern slopes of the maar. The semi-circular lake at the bottom was originally circular. In the 18th century the maar was drained to provide farmland. Later, however, the drainage ditch fell into decay and the water could accumulate again.

Today the banks, fenland and meadow provide good shelter. There are willows and wild roses amongst the bushes at the side of the lake. In the wetter reed beds, bulrushes and water horsetails are spreading further and further over what was originally the bed of the lake. Also rare birds, frogs, dragonflies and butterflies have found a home in the green volcano.