The Schreckensee, the lake of terror, is a disappointingly peaceful place for such a dramatic name. It is a small kettle lake in the moraine country of Upper Swabia, between Ravensburg and Aulendorf, left behind when a block of glacial ice melted at the end of the last Ice Age. Its shores, now partly bog and reed bed, hide the remains of prehistoric settlements, and it is one of the German sites in the UNESCO listing of Prehistoric Pile Dwellings around the Alps. As at most of these sites, nothing is visible on the surface; the timbers and household waste lie preserved underwater and in the peat, waiting for future archaeologists.
The countryside around it is gently rolling, with meadows, forests and the boggy wetlands the Swabians call Ried. Upper Swabia is also famous for its baroque churches and monasteries, and the Upper Swabian Baroque Route links many of them. A few kilometres south, the basilica of Weingarten is one of the largest baroque churches north of the Alps, and every year on the day after Ascension it hosts the Blutritt, a procession of thousands of horsemen honouring a relic of the Holy Blood. Ravensburg, with its medieval towers and gates, is a fine old trading town, and the home of a well-known board game and puzzle maker.
The riding is pleasant rather than thrilling. Country roads wind between farms and villages, over low hills and through forests, with good surfaces and moderate traffic. Expect tractors in summer and autumn, and watch for deer at dawn and dusk. On clear days, especially when the warm föhn wind blows from the south, the Alps appear on the horizon across Lake Constance, looking close enough to touch.
Fronreute and Wolpertswende are small villages with limited services, so head to Aulendorf, nine kilometres away, or Ravensburg and Weingarten for fuel and a broader choice of food. Look for Swabian dishes such as Maultaschen, big pasta pockets filled with meat and spinach, or Kässpätzle, egg noodles with melted cheese and fried onions. A cold local beer on a terrace is a reward at the end of the day.