Why this ride
1007 km from Kremmen to Buch, about 15 h 08 of riding. It goes by way of Konradshöhe, near Słubice, Scenic stretch near Wendisch Rietz and Schlieben. The climbs: near Dreetz and in Grünheide. The line favours views over speed.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Barnim Forest and Werbellinsee + Märkische Schweiz Buckow Flow
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 1007 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 15 h 08
- Journey
- One way; return travel is separate
Distance and timing basis
The recorded total and the leg detail need reconciliation. Inspect the leg notes before using this record for timing or navigation. Stops, delays, approach and any separate return travel add time. Basis: producer-declared routed record.
Reading history stays on this device. My road watch requires a separate selection; opening it does not subscribe this ride.
Distance and riding time are measured on the routed road. Check local closures and conditions before you ride.
Scenic road chapters
Barnim Forest and Werbellinsee fuel gate → Barnim Forest and Werbellin
42 km on Barnim Forest and Werbellinsee fuel gate → Barnim Forest and Werbellin.
Chapter facts
- Length
- 42 km
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. Fuel stop near Kremmen
In 1412, on a causeway through the marshes near Kremmen, the forces of the new Hohenzollern rulers of Brandenburg fought the Dukes of Pomerania in a battle that marked the beginning of the Hohenzollern era, which would eventually lead to Prussia and the German Empire. The causeway, the Kremmer Damm, still crosses the wetland, and a memorial cross marks the site of the battle. Fontane described it in his travels, and the story is part of Brandenburg folklore.
Read the complete Fuel stop near Kremmen write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Barnim Forest and Werbellinsee is where the day begins. Next is Barnim Forest and Werbellinsee checkpoint 8.
2. Near Konradshöhe
On the north-western edge of Berlin, the city dissolves into water and woods. Around Konradshöhe and Heiligensee, villas and gardens run down to the shores of the Havel and the Tegeler See, Berlin's second-largest lake, with islands, sailing boats and a long promenade at Alt-Tegel. Across the water, the Tegel forest stretches away, a dense area of pine and oak that hides walking paths and small lakes.
Read the complete Near Konradshöhe write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Finish at Barnim Forest and Werbellinsee checkpoint 8. That is the ride. Next is Photo stop near Słubice.
3. Photo stop near Słubice
Until 1945, Słubice was the Dammvorstadt, the suburb of Frankfurt an der Oder on the east bank of the river. When the border was redrawn along the Oder after the war, the town became Polish, its German population was expelled, and it was resettled by Poles, many of them themselves displaced from lands further east. Today, a bridge links the two towns, and the border is open, with people crossing freely to shop, work and study. The Collegium Polonicum, a joint institution of the European University Viadrina in Frankfurt and a Polish university, stands near the bridge as a symbol of reconciliation.
Read the complete Photo stop near Słubice write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
124 km in you reach Photo stop near Słubice. Next is Scenic stretch near Wendisch Rietz.
4. Scenic stretch near Wendisch Rietz
Brandenburg likes to call the Scharmützelsee its sea, the Märkisches Meer, and from the southern shore at Wendisch Rietz you can see why. The lake stretches away for about ten kilometres towards Bad Saarow, wide enough that on a windy day it throws up proper waves. Wendisch Rietz sits at the southern tip, with a harbour, a beach, holiday homes and a channel linking the lake to the Glubigsee and the waterways beyond. The name hints at the Slavic Wends who lived here before German settlement.
Read the complete Scenic stretch near Wendisch Rietz write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Scenic stretch near Wendisch Rietz, early in the day. Next is Berlin motorcycle escapes return.
5. Near Schlieben, on the way back
The Elbe-Elster district, in the far south of Brandenburg, is a quiet, sparsely populated land of forests, heath, farmland and small towns, between the Elbe and the Black Elster rivers. Schlieben, a small town on a low hill, stands in the middle of this landscape, and the countryside near it is a place to pause on the way back towards Berlin, especially on a hot day.
Read the complete Near Schlieben, on the way back write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Berlin motorcycle escapes return sits at 248 km, early in the day. Next is Food stop near Ziesar.
6. Food stop near Ziesar
Ziesar was once the home of bishops. For several centuries, the Bishops of Brandenburg made the castle here their main residence, and the brick keep and the chapel with its medieval wall paintings still stand. The castle now houses a museum on medieval Christianity and episcopal life, a surprising treasure for a small town of a couple of thousand people on the edge of the Fläming.
Read the complete Food stop near Ziesar write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Food stop near Ziesar is where this day stops to eat. Next is High point near Dreetz.
7. High point near Dreetz
Planning note
You top out here; the road stops climbing. Next is Back to Barnim Forest.
8. Back to Barnim Forest
Neuruppin is where Fontane was born, and the whole region still feels like one of his books. Theodor Fontane, the great novelist and travel writer of nineteenth-century Prussia, came into the world here in 1819 and later spent years walking through the Mark Brandenburg, recording its castles, lakes and villages in his Wanderings, a work that made the sandy north a place of literary pilgrimage.
Read the complete Barnim Forest write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Finish at Back to Barnim Forest. That is the ride. Next is Märkische Schweiz Buckow Flow.
9. Fuel stop near Buch
Buch, on the far northern edge of Berlin, is a district shaped by medicine. In the early twentieth century, the city architect Ludwig Hoffmann built a series of large hospital complexes here, in a park-like setting outside the crowded city, and Buch has been a centre of hospitals and medical research ever since. Today it is home to the Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine and a cluster of biotech companies, as well as a large hospital campus, and the old Hoffmann buildings, with their red-brick and stone façades, are still impressive.
Read the complete Near Buch write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Next is Scenic stretch near Werneuchen.
10. Scenic stretch near Werneuchen
Planning note
Scenic stretch near Werneuchen comes up 557 km in. Next is High point in Grünheide.
11. High point in Grünheide
Planning note
High point in Grünheide is the summit of this stretch. Next is Photo stop near Zossen.
12. Photo stop near Zossen
Planning note
Photo stop near Zossen, late in the day. Next is Märkische Schweiz Buckow Flow checkpoint 8.
13. Lichtenrade
Planning note
Märkische Schweiz Buckow Flow checkpoint 8 closes the day. Next is Food stop near Werder.
14. Food stop near Werder
Albert Einstein spent his summers in Caputh, on the shore of the Templiner See between Werder and Potsdam, in a wooden house he had built in 1929. He loved sailing on the lakes and called the house his paradise. When the Nazis came to power in 1933, he left Germany and never returned. The house, a modern timber building on a hill above the village, can be visited, and it is a fascinating glimpse into the private life of a genius.
Read the complete Food stop near Werder write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Food stop near Werder is where this day stops to eat.
15. Near Kremmen, on the way back
Planning note
867 km in you reach Berlin motorcycle escapes return. Next is Back to Märkische Schweiz.
16. Back to Märkische Schweiz
Wandlitz is the kind of place that has a famous lake and a notorious past. The Wandlitzsee, a clear glacial lake on the Barnim plateau north of Berlin, draws Berliners for swimming and sunbathing in summer, and the lakeside has a beach, cafes and a path around the water. But for forty years, a small enclosed settlement nearby, the Waldsiedlung, housed the leading members of East Germany's Politburo, behind a fence in the woods, with their own shop and doctor. The East German people called it the ghetto of the leaders.
Read the complete Märkische Schweiz write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Back to Märkische Schweiz closes the day.
Leg by leg
Fuel stop near Kremmen to Near Konradshöhe
Fuel stop near Kremmen → Near Konradshöhe is 42 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Photo stop near Słubice to Scenic stretch near Wendisch Rietz
Photo stop near Słubice → Scenic stretch near Wendisch Rietz is 45 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Scenic stretch near Wendisch Rietz to Near Schlieben, on the way back
Scenic stretch near Wendisch Rietz → Near Schlieben, on the way back is 103 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
Food stop near Ziesar to High point near Dreetz
Food stop near Ziesar → High point near Dreetz is 87 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
High point near Dreetz to Back to Barnim Forest
High point near Dreetz → Back to Barnim Forest is 41 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Back to Barnim Forest to Fuel stop near Buch
Back to Barnim Forest → Fuel stop near Buch is 46 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Fuel stop near Buch to Scenic stretch near Werneuchen
Fuel stop near Buch → Scenic stretch near Werneuchen is 20 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Scenic stretch near Werneuchen to High point in Grünheide
Scenic stretch near Werneuchen → High point in Grünheide is 32 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
High point in Grünheide to Photo stop near Zossen
High point in Grünheide → Photo stop near Zossen is 40 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Photo stop near Zossen to Lichtenrade
Photo stop near Zossen → Lichtenrade is 26 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Food stop near Werder to Near Kremmen, on the way back
Food stop near Werder → Near Kremmen, on the way back is 59 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.