Between the Elbe river valley and the megalithic stone tombs
The Elbe Heights and the Klötzie Rise together form the northern edge of the Drawehn Ridge, ending in the Elbe marsh region. As the transition between the Elbe Riverscape Biosphere Reserve of Lower Saxony and the Elbhöhen-Wendland Nature Park, this forms the backdrop along this trail.
It leads into the historic center of Walmsburg – a former Rundling village.
The Walmsburg slough is an expansive, pristine floodplain along the Elbe river with transitions to the forested edge of the sandy Ice Age deposits (geest). Here, on the trail, you will certainly find a place to enjoy the Elbe in its original beauty, with its white sand beaches. Since 2009, a dike has protected the town of Walmsburg from the slough when it floods.
The trail continues through Katemin, where it reaches the dam at the Katemin mill, which has contained the creek flow in a pretty mill pond for more than 700 years. On the other side of Neu-Darchau, the trail climbs up into the Elbe Heights again before it descends into the Katemin mill creek valley. The sections of geest near Neu-Darchau slope downwards like mountain sides toward the Elbe river. The tiny mill creek has to dig a deep valley here in order to reach the Elbe river. Afterward, the trail terrain switches between forest and meadow until it reaches the megalithic stone tombs in the Schieringer forest. These tombs are thousands of years old. At first it was thought that only giants could have built them. The Opferberg, a “sacrifice hill”, is also located here, a burial mound overgrown with trees.