11th stage “66-Seen-Wanderweg”: The spa town and the “Märkische Meer” walking tour

On the 11th stage of the 66-Lake hiking trail, you will cross Bad Saarow and Pieskow and pass through Kolpin, Reichenwalde, Storkow and Dahmsdorf before reaching your destination in Wendisch Rietz. On the 23 kilometre section, you will reach a maximum height of 85 metres above sea level and a minimum height of 37 metres above sea level, rising by 133 metres and dropping by 132 metres.Length: 25 kilometres (6 hours)Start: Bad SaarowFinish: Wendisch RietzLogo/route sign: Blue circle against a white backgroundHow to get there: From Berlin central station, take the RE1 (Cottbus) to Fürstenwalde / Spree. From here, continue by taking the EV35 to Bad Saarow (about 1 hour).Return journey: From Wendisch Rietz take the regional train RB36 to Königs Wusterhausen. Continue from here by taking the RE2 (Wittenberg) to Berlin central station (about 1.5 hours).Route: Bad Saarow, Kolpin, Reichenwalde, Storkow, Wendisch RietzRoute description: The route that has been chosen for this hiking trail offers an amazing diversity of things to see, passing first through a miniature virgin forest of former clay pits, then on through a quiet landscape with fields, forests, wide waterways, past bathing areas through little villages and across Germany’s largest inland dune. This 36 metre high mountain of sand on the edge of the town of Storkow offers an impressively broad view from its peak; even today, nothing grows on the upper part of its fine, light-coloured sand, making it look like a coastal dune. Our hike ends in the state-approved resort of Wendisch Rietz. In between like Reichenwalde and Dahmsdorf, two modern villages with old centres and typical granite churches, and Storkow, which is more than 1000 years old, making it one of the oldest towns in Brandenburg. Lake Scharmützelsee, which is over ten kilometres long and has a surface area of 1200 hectares, is the largest lake in Brandenburg. Theodor Fontane nicknamed it the “Ocean of the Marches” – a very appropriate designation.Sights:Storkow: one of the oldest towns in Brandenburg; Germany’s largest inland duneReichenwalde and Dahmsdorf: old centres and granite churchesUnderfoot conditions/surface: dirt hiking trails almost all the wayMaps/Literature:"66-Seen-Weg, Hikeline Wanderführer", 1:50.000, Verlag: Esterbauer, Auflage: 2 (2012), ISBN-13: 978-3850005012, Euro 14.90Reschke, Manfred: "Die 66-Seen-Wanderung. Zu den Naturschönheiten rund um Berlin", Trescher Verlag; Auflage 8, aktual. A. (2017), ISBN 978-3-89794-369-8 (www.trescher-verlag.de/reisefuehrer/deutschland/66-seen-wanderung.html)