2023-07-07 22:02:00
Northern paths in Lower Saxony. Enjoying nature for hikers who don’t just want to go up.
“Here you can walk for hours and not meet anyone,” says Udo Fischer and nods encouragingly. The hike “dör’t Moor” – “through the moor” in Low German, which is still widely spoken in the Lower Saxony district of Rotenburg an der Wümme – is one of 24 circular routes in the hiking area that lies between the cities of Hamburg and Bremen. And therefore not far away from the Lüneburg Heath. “Our north trails are ideal for slowing down in nature, for getting out and relaxing,” says Fischer, a passionate hiker and cyclist and project manager for the “North Paths” hiking trails. It’s really almost completely quiet, occasionally a few like-minded people come towards you, protected with rain jackets and hoods. There is no such thing as bad weather, only improper clothing, they say, and this also applies to hiking.
Those who embark on one of these northern paths do not attach importance to altitude and are moving in an agricultural region with small towns, villages and well-kept farms, houses made of brick and thatched roofs, with many meadows, pastures and forests. Flat land and undulating landscapes, streams, rivers and moors alternate with each other, the highest elevations are just 90 meters. The hiking region is still young. In the past there were hardly any offers, at most holidays on the farm or cycling. “We were smiled at because we don’t have any mountains or castles to offer. It took a lot of persuasion,” explains Fischer. Since 2014, however, a complete path management has been introduced according to the strict criteria of the German Hiking Association. But it was all new territory, and especially for the residents of the region. “People first had to learn to hike – they didn’t know any natural paths.”
Many guests are now coming. The northern path “Dör’t Moor”, even voted “Germany’s most beautiful hiking trail” in the “Day trips” category by the readers of a hiking magazine in 2021, leads through the 654-hectare “Großes und Weißes Moor” nature reserve. Here you can easily spend a relaxing, beautiful day. Immediately following the starting point, the first attraction: the large Bullensee, up to 40 meters deep. It is still outside the protected area and is open to bathing, the water rats wandering past only have to share it with waterfowl, apart from a few highly motivated swimmers. To the left and right of the path, nature appears like an enchanted world of moor, heath and forest landscape. Soft grassy hills, tree stumps sticking out of bodies of water, swamps and ditches, birches and oaks, huge ferns, mosses, roots and lichens stimulate the imagination. Information boards, themed pavilions, a lookout tower that opens up the view over the landscape, in turn provide very real information regarding the flora and fauna of the area. Sometimes it rains, occasionally in torrents, otherwise a fox, a wild boar or a deer, a bird of prey or a snipe of the snipe family can be spotted in the area.
“The cool thing regarding hiking is that it’s possible all year round,” enthuses Fischer. “In the winter we don’t have any masses of snow here. And without the foliage you see things that you don’t see in the summer. In April it starts to turn green. That’s when you can hear the buds popping and the leaves coming out, and that’s when you can relax just lie down and join in the natural experience.” When the leaves change color in autumn, it’s a dream. And when tens of thousands of cranes fly to their roosting places in the moors: What a natural spectacle!
You will look in vain for an inn or snack bar in the moor. If you want, you can have a picnic organized in advance. Under the motto “Tischlein, cover yourself!” gastronomy businesses such as the Hotel Landhaus Wachtelhof put together fine regional and sustainable gourmet packages. You can feast comfortably at one of the rest areas in the middle of the moor. Or if you take a shortcut, for example because of rain, in the safe haven of an inn.
The hiking routes have allowed the region to grow together, causing a rethinking of tourism. “Who used to hike in the lowlands?” asks Carola Klindworth, manager of the Hotel Zur Kloster-Mühle. “But the paths are well developed, there are many interesting routes, some of which pass directly by us. The colleagues are now working closely together.” So everyone benefits. And finally, higher consecrations can also be aspired to when hiking on flat land: Anyone who manages to complete the hiking pass with all 24 northern paths and a possible 358 kilometers will be included in the “Hall of Northern Paths”.
Info: metropolregion.hamburg.de, www.nordwaerts.de, www.reiseland-niedersachsen.de
1688767921
#unusual #holiday #spot #great #relaxing
