The Burgaufzug is the unusual tunnel elevator system that carries visitors from the valley floor up through the cliff to Burg Altena. Rather than climbing the steep forest path, you enter a tunnel near the town centre and ride an elevator carved into the rock — the sort of civic engineering oddity that feels entirely German in its practical ingenuity. The ride itself is brief but the approach through the tunnel gives a good sense of the castle's dramatic position above the Lenne.
The elevator is the most convenient way to reach the castle, particularly in wet weather when the forest path becomes slippery. It operates during castle opening hours.