NA4 Crane Route

The 55-kilometer circular tour starts at the Hundertwasser Train Station in Uelzen. The station was transformed into a fairytale-like station building by Viennese architecture doctor Friedensreich Hundertwasser for Expo 2000, with trees, shrubs, and a huge photovoltaic system for solar power on the roof. Ride through Uelzens city center over Wipperau and the Elbe Side Canal to Oldenstadt. Tip: Take a walk through the nature experience site NABU-NEST with a pond, old trees, flower meadow, herb spiral, insect hotel, bee education stand, and breeding pavilion. Continue to Hanstedt II. Keep an eye out for cranes to the left of Hanstedt! There, the NABU has created a pond as a breeding habitat for cranes. The tour continues to Molbath. Keep right at the entrance to the village, 200 meters further on, you will reach a NABU habitat with an observation platform. With luck, you can see the crane here. The rare moor frog also lives in the wetland. The males change color to blue during the mating season from April to May! Via Klein Malchau, you reach Rosche. There, a swimming pool and a gravel pit beckon - but only briefly, as you continue towards Bruchwedel. Here, the bird sanctuary Ostheide stretches out, where the songbirds Skylark and Ortolan are protected. In the lowland of the Bruchwedeler Bach, the NABU has created a pond - here too, the crane breeds. Ride through the round village of Dörmte to the Oetzmühle from 1339, once a grain, oil, and baking mill. Just before the mill, a cycle path leads to Stöcken and further to the water reservoir. This detour is worth it, as the reservoir attracts water birds all year round. From an observation platform, you can watch them. In summer, numerous cranes gather here. From the Oetzmühle, continue through orchard avenues to Riestedt and then to Masendorf with a wide view of the Wipperauniederung. Then cycle to the Elbe Side Canal, where the path runs along it for a while, on the other side lies Emmendorf. Here, the valley of the Ilmenau has cut about 50 meters deep through the local terminal moraine ridge. At the edge of the village, there is a sign with information about the formation of the landscape as well as the flora and fauna along the Ilmenau. Beautiful views of the valley open up from the small road to Kirchweyhe. Shortly after, Westerweyhe appears and merges into the Uelzen city forest, through which the route leads back to the Hundertwasser Train Station.