Circular Trail Friedenthaler Grund

There is hardly any walking trail in the nature park Naturpark Fläming that offers quite as many varied land formations and beautiful wooded areas as on the Friedenthaler Grund trail. The river Zahnabach starts near the small village of Wüstemark in a quite impressive way. Along the way there are is forest in the middle of conversion, three quaint little Fläming villages and former water mill in Friedenthaler Grund. And if you look closely maybe you can spot Jahmo the bog man. There are no restaurants or other catering business along the trail but the beautiful nature offers many places for a relaxed picnic.

Route description:
The trail starts about 15 km northeast of Lutherstadt Wittenberg right in the center of the village Wüstemark which is part of the Wittenberg municipality. From the car parking you cross the main street and soon reach the bordering woods. Here the wanderer can decide to follow the trail clockwise or counterclockwise. Turning left we soon reach the Zahnabach river that flows in an artifical bed because it was used as a mill stream in the past. As soon as the sign markers turn away from the little stream we reach a pine forest that has nothing to do with the artifical pine plantations we know so well. The thick and varied undergrowth offers shelter for various animal species. 20 years of forest conversion can be experienced closely here. On a larger clearing we turn right and follow a wide forest for 2 km in the direction of Köpnick.
After crossing the federal highway B2 the landscape opens up. The trails leads through meadows and pastures all the way to the church of Köpnick. Here we follow the street through the village until we branch out to Jahmo. Again the trail is flanked by fields, meadows and range land. In Jahmo we meet the Zahna, short for Zahnabach, again. Close to the lower village there used to be a big bog that housed a bog man. Legend says that the bog man could either choose to do good or evil. To placate to bog man villagers brought baked goods and meets to the bog. Unfortunately later generations filled up the bog and it dissapeared. But there are more boggy places and swamps all over the area so maybe the bog man of Jahmo is still around somewhere.
From here the trails leads back across the federal highway and we reach an alley lined by impressive chestnut trees which lead to the place that lend the trail and the whole nature reserve its name: Friedenthal valley. Here we stumple across the remains of the old water mill, that was one of 15 mills along the Zahnabach river. In Friedenthaler Grund the mill industry was linked closely with fish farming in artifical water reservoirs.
The last leg of trails leads through a wooded area alongside the Zahnbach back to Wüstemark where we started our hike.
Distance: 11 km

Start / destination: 06889 Kropstädt OT Wüstemark

Logo / route sign: Brown sign with toad

How to get there:car: from Berlin via A115, A10, A9 and B2 (ca. 1,5 Stunden)Stations: Wüstemark - Köpnick - Jahmo - ehemalige Mühle im Friedenthaler Grund - Wüstemark

Sights:course of the river Zahnabachforest conversiontypical villages of the Fläming regionold water mill in Friedenthaler GrundConditions of the trail/surface: mainly natural surfaces, solid footpaths or cycle paths in built-up areas; suitable for families but not for prams or push-buggies

Maps / Literature: "Biosphärenreservat Mittelelbe (3in1)", 3in1-Reiseführer für Ihren Aktivurlaub, mit kompakten Reiseinfos, ausgewählten Wander- und Radtouren, Verlag: PUBLICPRESS, Auflage: 2014, ISBN: 978-3-89920-832-0, 11,99 Euro