Your nature experience at the gates of the big city:
- Relaxed half-day tour on the "66 Lakes Hiking Trail" and "Orchid Circular Trail"
- Varied: Picnic areas with viewing points, wooden walkways and stairs over hills, dams and babbling streams in different landscapes
- Informative: observe native orchids and special animal species in the nature reserve with educational trail
- Wide views: over the extensive valley, over the Great Stienitzsee or from the viewing platform on the Wachtelturm
- Cozy: watch the hustle and bustle in the gardens at Kleiner Stienitzsee in Hennickendorf
- ultra clear: discover secret bathing spots on the Großer Stienitzsee on the boardwalk
Start & Finish: Strausberg S-Bahn station
Length: 10,5 km / approx. 3,5 hours
Public transport: RB26 or S5 from Ostkreuz / Lichtenberg to Strausberg station
Departure public transport: Strausberg train station: RB26 or S5
travel tip
When you arrive at the train station in Strausberg, walk along Bahnhofsstraße to the right and cross Ernst-Thälmann-Straße and the train station tracks. On the left-hand side you will find the start of the hike through the idyllic nature.
Along the dam and into the countryside
After just a short ride on the S-Bahn or regional train, the 66 Lakes Trail towards Rüdersdorf will quickly take you into the countryside. The trail starts behind the railway tracks a few hundred metres east of Strausberg station. You will immediately notice the differences in altitude as you enter the Lange Dammwiesen nature reserve over the rampart-like elevations and dams from the Ice Age. The spring-rich areas have created a varied terrain and an exciting landscape through which your late riser tour will take you. The trail runs along one of the most varied low moors in Brandenburg.
After turning south on the railway line, you can take the small trail on the right, which will later take you back to the 66 Lakes Trail. Here you go along the edge of the forest and wet meadows and you cross a small stream. Many calcareous springs ensure particularly clear water, for example in the nearby Great Stienitzsee. The spring moors are home to numerous rare plants, such as several orchid species. As carbon stores, the intact moors counteract climate change and are therefore particularly worth protecting.
Buffalo make orchids bloom - living nature conservation
The area in which you are hiking offers an enormous variety of nature and habitats for some endangered animal and plant species. Today, conservationists and local farmers take care of the landscape, following historical forms of management. They are supported by primitive Heck cattle, horses, sheep and goats, which you are sure to see in the extensive meadows and pasture forest. Water buffalo even graze on the wet pastures.
The grazing projects promote the preservation of a diverse open landscape, which particularly benefits birds that breed in the meadows. But endangered butterflies, such as the copper butterfly, also benefit from the environmentally friendly grassland management.
Discovering rare species
Your tour takes you along a nature trail that provides information about the area and its special features. Are you a bird lover? Then, depending on the season and with a bit of luck, you will be able to observe some rarities: in autumn and winter, kingfishers, goosander, black-backed scoters and goldeneyes at the Great Stienitzsee, grey wagtails feel at home near the Lemke feed mill and at the allotment colony you can watch the courting snipes and lapwings from April to June - don't forget your binoculars! Here on the northern edge of Hennickendorf you have a particularly beautiful view over the expansive valley and the meadows where cranes stop off during the summer months.
Berlin garden neighbors: Hennickendorf and the small Stienitzsee
Things are relaxed in the cozy Hennickendorf. Green gardens reach up to the small Stienitzsee, children's laughter can be heard. The view from the almost 30m high Wachtelturm (weekends only) provides a good overview. You can see the lakes and the Lange Dammwiesen, and if the visibility is good you can see the Berlin TV tower. Fancy a snack stop? You can get something to eat at the Lemke mill's farm shop, at the bakery opposite the church or at the ice cream paradise.
For insiders: bathing area Stienietzsee Northeast shore
A romantic wooden plank path with bridges to hidden bathing spots and small rest areas begins on the swampy shore of the Great Stienitzsee. From here you have wonderful views over the entire length of the particularly clear Stienitzsee and of course you can also dive into the cool water. Water lilies, fish and mussels and a visibility depth of up to 5m prove the best water quality in one of the clearest lakes in the state of Brandenburg.
The orchid circular trail with yellow markings takes you back through the Torfhaus district into the countryside. It goes along the edge of the meadow and through the forest to the starting point and now end point, Strausberg train station. Here you can stop for the popular "coffee break" before heading off to the big city. The ice cream and cake creations by pastry chef Andreas Dietrich are extremely popular, and not just with hikers.
Info tips for those of you who are particularly interested in nature:
Important animal and plant species
- Birds: White-tailed eagle, crane, corncrake, snipe, lapwing, wryneck, barred warbler, wood warbler, penduline tit, corn bunting
- Mammals: Otters
- Amphibians: fire-bellied toad, great crested newt
- Insects: Large Copper, Pearl-grass Meadowlark
- Plants: numerous orchid species, Turk's cap lily, cotton grass, marsh sedge, globeflower, marsh heartleaf, carnation, swallowwort, medicinal betony, willow elecampane, cracking strawberry (edible!)
- The free one App Flora Incognita can help you identify plants
- sunscreen and mosquito repellent
- Drinks, snacks if necessary
- swimwear
- Birdwatchers should not forget their binoculars!
- March-June: Snipe and Lapwing Courtship
- May - July: the yellow oriole, red-backed shrike, orchids, various butterfly species
- August September: Red-backed shrike, various butterfly species
- October - February: Waxwing
- year-round: Crane with resting place, kingfisher, water buffalo & co
Refreshment tips:
- Hennickendorf: Mühle Lemke farm shop with bakery (Mon-Sat) and ice cream paradise at the church square
- Strausberg Bahnhof: Snow ice cream in the café and wine bar "Kaffeepause"
