Oker Valley and Clausthal Mountain Roads

Scenic road chapters

Waypoint introductions and full write-ups

1. 1. Hannover south-east edge

   Laatzen is where Hannover's southern edge turns into the exhibition halls, a town of forty thousand, with the great fair grounds a few minutes away. The Expo of the year 2000 was held on this side of the city, and the vast halls and the odd, slightly futuristic pavilions that survive give the district a strange, half-empty feel on a quiet morning. It is a spot to meet and set off, not a place to linger.

   Read the complete Hannover south-east edge write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Hannover south-east edge is where the day begins. Next is Salzgitter.

2. 2. Salzgitter fuel gate

   Salzgitter is not a town for postcards, and that is exactly why it makes a good fuel gate. It was built around steel. In 1937 the Nazi government founded a huge ironworks here to exploit local iron ore, and the city that grew around it was a collection of villages merged into one, with a sprawling industrial landscape. Today the steelworks still operates, and the skyline is a mix of chimneys, rail yards and housing estates, softened by green belts and lakes.

   Read the complete Salzgitter fuel gate write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Salzgitter is the fuel stop for this leg. Next is Goslar old road.

3. 3. Goslar old road

   Goslar is one of those towns that makes you stop the engine and simply look. It sits on the northern edge of the Harz mountains in Lower Saxony, and it was for centuries an imperial city, with a palace where German emperors held court in the eleventh and twelfth centuries. The Kaiserpfalz, a huge Romanesque hall restored in the nineteenth century, still stands on the hill, with murals showing scenes of imperial history. Around it the old town is a maze of cobbled lanes, crooked half-timbered houses and slate-roofed gables, so well preserved that UNESCO listed it in 1992.

   Read the complete Goslar old road write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   71 km in you reach Goslar old road. Next is Oker valley bends.

4. 4. Oker valley bends

   The Oker is the river that cuts the Harz in two, and the road that follows it from Goslar toward Altenau is among the best in northern Germany. The valley is narrow and steep, with dark spruce forest on the slopes and bare granite cliffs breaking through, and the road keeps close company with the water, bending with every meander. The corners come one after another, tight enough to keep you busy and open enough to enjoy, and the surface is generally good.

   Read the complete Oker valley bends write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   The high point of this section. Next is Clausthal-Zellerfeld high point.

5. 5. Clausthal-Zellerfeld high point

   Clausthal-Zellerfeld sits on a plateau at around six hundred metres in the Upper Harz, and the town has a surprise at its centre: the Marktkirche, a huge church built entirely of wood, said to be the largest wooden church in Germany. It was built in the seventeenth century by a mining community that was rich enough to afford it and short of stone, and it is a fine sight, with its dark timber walls and a roof of slate. Inside it is painted and carved with a quiet grandeur.

   Read the complete Clausthal-Zellerfeld high point write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Clausthal-Zellerfeld high point sits at 141 km, about halfway. Next is Seesen food stop.

6. 6. Seesen food stop

   Seesen sits at the western edge of the Harz, where the hills begin to rise out of the plain, and it is a handy town for a stop with a little history tucked inside. In the early nineteenth century it was the home of the Jacobson School, founded by a Jewish banker and reformer named Israel Jacobson, one of the first schools to bring Jewish and Christian pupils together and to push for the reform of Jewish worship, and a temple he built beside it became a model for the first Reform synagogues. The temple was destroyed in 1938, and a memorial now marks the site.

   Read the complete Seesen food stop write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Seesen food stop is where this day stops to eat. Next is Back to Hannover.

7. 7. Back to Hannover

   Hannover is not the first name that comes to mind when riders talk about great destinations, and it would probably say that is fine. It is a big, calm, practical city of half a million people on the northern edge of the German hills, where the flat North German Plain begins to roll up toward the Deister and the Weser Uplands.

   Read the complete Hannover write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Back to Hannover closes the day.