Leisurely cycling with a view: this day trip takes you from Scharmützelsee to Dahme Heideseen Nature Park, combining nature experiences with regional cuisine. Along the way, you can see how the Ice Age has shaped the natural landscape – unique lakes, sandy hills and species-rich shores. Insights into the fishing tradition and encounters with local hosts provide food for thought and stories that linger in the memory. Easy to cycle and imbued with maritime holiday charm.
Start / Finish: Bad Saarow railroad station
Length / Duration: 46 kilometers / approx. 3,0 – 3,5 hours
Logo / route sign: logo of an eagle and pikeperch
Character: moderate day trip with a few metres of elevation gain (150 m), mostly on paved cycle paths and occasionally on side roads.
Course: Bad Saarow, Reichenwalde, Storkow, Groß Schauen, Storkow, Wendisch Rietz, Diensdorf-Radlow, Pieskow, Bad Saarow
Extra tip: The tour includes great observation points for birdwatchers. Binoculars are highly recommended!
Arrival / Departure:
- Public transport: From Berlin main station with RE1 (Cottbus) to Fürstenwalde (Spree), continue with RB35 to Bad Saarow (approx. 1 h)
- By car: From Berlin via A113, A10 and A12 (approx. 1 h), Public car park: e.g. Ulmenstraße or Pieskower Straße, Bad Saarow
Route description
Start in Bad Saarow
Founded as an elegant villa colony for Berliners, Bad Saarow quickly developed into a renowned health resort thanks to its thermal brine and healing moor. The spirit of the Wilhelminian era is still palpable today, making this town on Lake Scharmützelsee a popular destination for city dwellers seeking escape and an ideal starting point for excursions. The Kurfürstensteg footbridge is a fitting start. From here, the view stretches across the lake to the south.
Tip: The Kurfürstensteg footbridge is a great place to observe bird life: the OrnithoQRCode provides current sightings and invites you to join in: coots, great crested grebes, great reed warblers, goosanders.
Sandy specialists
One last look from the Saarow lake promenade, then it's across the fields towards Storkow with its beautiful views. The actual climb awaits at the Waltersberge inland dune. This sandy habitat is home to antlions and birds such as the woodlark and the wheatear.
Naturgut Köllnitz and the Sielmann Foundation: where the eagle meets the zander
Passing Lake Storkow, the route leads to the highlight of the tour: the Köllnitz nature reserve. Fishing has been practised here since the 13th century. The Groß Schauen lakes are ideal fishing grounds. The Köllnitz ensemble is perfect for a longer break: farm shop and smokehouse, two restaurants, relaxing by the Köllnitzer Fließ stream, favourite view of the lake – and right next door, the Heinz Sielmann Foundation's nature discovery centre.
There, it becomes clear why ospreys love this 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 sweeping views over the water, where, with a little patience, you can observe ospreys and the breeding islands of the common terns.
Prominent landscape conservationists in the Dahme Heideseen Nature Park
South of Storkow lies one of the largest and most valuable inland salt deposits in the region. From an ornithological point of view, the view from the Salzwegturm tower is worth seeing at any time of year: larks, lapwings and hunting birds of prey circle overhead. The route leads back into Storkow once again. Behind the castle, water buffalo have been working as powerful landscape conservationists since 2012.
Wendisch Rietz – maritime holiday charm & fishing culture
In Wendisch Rietz, the holiday atmosphere returns. The village adds another culinary highlight to the tour. Between rowing boats and the smell of smoke, the village tells of working with and on the lake.
Fontane and the cuckoo quote at the ‘Märkisches Meer’
The last third of the tour follows the eastern shore of Lake Scharmützel. In Diensdorf Radlow, the Hotel Märkisches Meer invites you to stay. The famous quote was only attributed to Fontane. However, this ‘cuckoo quote’ by a creative journalist describes the fascination of the lake so aptly that it has stuck to this day.
Sights:
- Bad Saarow: Kurfürstensteg footbridge, research vessel
- Waltersberge inland dunes
- Groß Schauen: Köllnitz nature reserve, Heinz Sielmann Foundation exhibition and Groß Schauen nature trail, Selchow observation tower
- Salzwegturm tower
- Storkow: Storkow Castle visitor centre, water buffalo
- Wendisch Rietz: Fischland Scharmützelsee
- Storkow: Alter Weinberg restaurant, Storchenklause Storkow
- Groß Schauen: Aalhof Gödicke, Köllnitz nature reserve
- Wendisch Rietz: Heimathafen bei Uwe, Fischhaus Wendisch-Rietz;
- Diensdorf-Radlow: Theo's im Märkischen Meer
- Bad Saarow: Carpe Diem, SeaSide, Villa Contessa, Seebad, Das Dorsch
- Tourist information at Bad Saarow railroad station
- Tourist information in the “Haus des Gastes” in Wendisch Rietz
- Tourist information at Storkow Castle (Mark)
- Oder-Spree-Tour
- Devil's Tour
Maps/literature:
- Cycling brochure ‘Dein Rad. Deine Auszeit. Dein Flow.’, Online shop Seenland Oder-Spree
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