Leisurely cycling with panoramic views: This day trip leads from Lake Scharmützelsee into the Dahme Heath Lakes Nature Park, taking you along the water's edge and combining nature experiences with regional cuisine. Along the way, you'll witness firsthand how the Ice Age shaped the landscape – unique lakes, sandy hills, and biodiverse shorelines. Insights into the fishing tradition and encounters with local hosts provide food for thought and stories that will linger in your memory. An easy ride, imbued with maritime holiday charm.
Start / Finish: Bad Saarow train station
Length / Duration: 46 kilometers / approx. 3,0 – 3,5 hours pure driving time
Logo / route sign: Eagle meets Zander logo
Character: A moderate day tour with a few meters of elevation gain (150m), which runs mostly on paved cycle paths and also occasionally on side roads.
Course: Bad Saarow, Reichenwalde, Storkow, Groß Schauen, Storkow, Wendisch Rietz, Diensdorf-Radlow, Pieskow, Bad Saarow
Extra tip: The tour includes fantastic birdwatching spots. Binoculars are highly recommended!
Arrival / Departure:
Public transport: From Berlin Hauptbahnhof with RE1 (Cottbus) to Fürstenwalde (Spree), then with RB35 to Bad Saarow (approx. 1 hour)
Cars: From Berlin via A113, A10 and A12 (approx. 1 hour), public parking: e.g. Ulmenstraße or Pieskower Straße, Bad Saarow
Directions
Opening event in Bad Saarow
Founded as an elegant villa colony for Berliners, Bad Saarow quickly developed into a renowned spa town thanks to its thermal brine and healing moorland peat. The atmosphere of the Gründerzeit (the period of rapid industrial expansion in Germany in the late 19th century) is still palpable today – making the town on Lake Scharmützel a popular destination for those seeking respite from the city and an ideal starting point for excursions. The Kurfürstensteg (Elector's Footbridge) provides a fitting beginning. From here, the view sweeps across the long, southward-stretching lake.
Tip: The Kurfürstensteg is a great place to observe the birdlife: the OrnithoQRCode provides current sightings and invites you to participate: coots, great crested grebes, reed warblers, goosanders.
Sandy specialists
A final glance from the Saarow lakeside promenade, then the route continues across the fields with panoramic views towards Storkow. The real climb awaits at the Waltersberge inland dune. This sandy habitat is home to the antlion, as well as birds such as the woodlark and the wheatear.
Naturgut Köllnitz and the Sielmann Foundation
Passing by Lake Storkow, the route leads to the highlight of the tour: the Köllnitz Nature Reserve. Fishing has been practiced here since the 13th century. The Groß Schauener Lakes are ideal fishing grounds. The Köllnitz complex is perfect for a longer break: farm shop and smokehouse, two restaurants, a place to relax by the Köllnitz stream, a favorite view of the lake – and right next door, the Heinz Sielmann Foundation's nature experience station.
There it becomes clear why ospreys appreciate the region: exposed nesting sites and rich waters.
Tip: For even more nature moments, walk the nature trail from the nature reserve to the Selchow observation tower: from there you can enjoy wide views over the waters, where with a little patience you can observe not only ospreys but also the breeding islands of the common terns.
Prominent landscape conservationists
South of Storkow lies one of the largest and most valuable inland salt marshes in the region. The view from the Salt Road Tower is worthwhile for birdwatchers at any time of year: larks, lapwings, and hunting birds of prey circle overhead. The route then leads back into Storkow. Behind the castle, water buffalo have been working as powerful landscape managers since 2012.
Wendisch Rietz
In Wendisch Rietz, the holiday atmosphere returns. The village adds another culinary highlight to the tour. Amidst rowboats and the aroma of smoked meats, the village tells the story of working with and on the lake.
Fontane and the cuckoo quote
The final third of the tour follows the eastern shore of Lake Scharmützel. In Diensdorf-Radlow, the Hotel "Märkisches Meer" beckons. The famous quote was falsely attributed to Fontane. This "cuckoo quote" from a creative journalist, however, describes the lake's fascination so aptly that it has endured to this day.
Sights:
- Bad Saarow: Kurfürstensteg, research vessel
- Waltersberge inland dune
- Groß Schauen: Köllnitz Nature Reserve, Heinz Sielmann Foundation Exhibition and Groß Schauen Nature Trail, Selchow Observation Tower
- Salt Road Tower
- Storkow: Storkow Castle Visitor Center, Water Buffalo
- Wendisch Rietz: Fischland Scharmützelsee
- Storkow: Restaurant Alter Weinberg, Storchenklause Storkow
- Groß Schauen: Aalhof Gödicke, Naturgut Köllnitz
- Wendisch Rietz: Home port at Uwe's, Fischhaus Wendisch-Rietz;
- Diensdorf-Radlow: Theo's in the Märkisches Meer
- Bad Saarow: Carpe Diem, SeaSide, Villa Contessa, Seebad, Das Dorsch
- Tourist Information at Bad Saarow Station
- Tourist information in the "Haus des Gastes" in Wendisch Rietz
- Tourist Information at Storkow Castle (Mark)
- Oder-Spree tour
- Devil's Tour
- Cycling brochure "Your bike. Your time out. Your flow.", Online shop Seenland Oder-Spree
