Schorfheide is the forest that has hosted more rulers than any other in Germany. Hohenzollern electors hunted here, Hermann Göring built a vast estate called Carinhall in the woods, naming it after his first wife, and the leaders of East Germany kept their own hunting lodges, all in the same pine and beech. Carinhall was blown up in 1945 and little remains, but the forest itself is intact, and it is one of the largest continuous woodlands in the region.
The roads that run through it are long, straight, tree-lined and quiet. Pines and beeches crowd the verge, and in places the branches meet overhead. The surface is mostly good, with some patched sections, and the corners are gentle, which makes it ideal for easy, meditative riding. Cobbles show up in the villages, and sand can blow across the road near open heath. In spring and autumn, mist often lies in the hollows, and the light filtering through the trees is lovely.
Wildlife is part of the draw. Red deer are numerous, and in September and October the stags roar during the rut, a sound that carries through the forest at dusk. Wild boar, foxes and, increasingly, wolves are present, though you are far more likely to meet a deer on the road than anything else. Cranes feed in the clearings in autumn, and white-tailed eagles nest in the old trees near the lakes.
Practical matters need some thought. Villages such as Marienwerder are small and have few services. Carry water and some food, and keep a spare layer, because the forest is cooler than the open land.
Go early on a weekday, switch off the engine for a few minutes and listen. The silence is full of small sounds, and it is one of the best things about riding here.