Enjoy Bike Paradise I Star Route 04 I Nature and Water in the Harz Nature Park

Our tour starts at the Wernigerode pedestrian bridge at the old town roundabout. We cycle leisurely past the Lustgarten and turn right onto Schlosschaussee, where we pedal our way up to Wernigerode Castle® with our e-assist. At the castle, a beautiful view of Wernigerode awaits us, also known as the "colorful town at the Harz." Entrance to the castle is definitely worthwhile. Here, we learn a lot about the history of the medieval castle, which was rebuilt into a baroque residence castle in the late 17th century. A particularly impressive view of the fairy tale castle is from Agnesberg, where one of the 222 stamp boxes of the Harz hiking badge can also be found. Due to the steep, rooty trails, we cannot cycle up. We cycle along the bike path Am Schloss towards Christianental, whose namesake wildlife park is worth a detour. Via the single trail parallel to the Mühlental federal road, we ride to the outskirts where, after crossing the Zillierbach, we enter the forest. On narrow paths, we follow the course of the brook through the forest into the cold valley. We follow the path, which bends to the right, and cycle through wooded areas on well-ridable paths. Our path merges into Hüttestieg, which we follow south. Over and over, we pass murmuring brooks or cross them. The forest roads are easy to ride, and we quickly cover some distance. At the fork, we leave Hüttestieg and turn left to cycle towards the Zillierbach reservoir. When the path splits, we turn left again and meet the Zillierbach again, which leads us straight to the reservoir. We cycle along its western side and can repeatedly enjoy beautiful views of the water from the path. Currently, we are in a drinking water protection area. The Zillierbach reservoir supplies the adjoining towns in the Saxony-Anhalt Upper Harz and the northern Harz foreland with drinking water and also provides flood protection. We cross the approximately 45-meter-high dam and stop at the Peterstein viewpoint on the other side of the dam. After our break with a view, we follow the path through Petersholz and turn right at the end onto Forstmeister-Schmidt-Weg. At the next junction, we turn left, then right again and follow the path until it takes us out to Elbingerode. We cycle comfortably to the town center, where we can stop or buy something for the way. The landscape changes noticeably. After the dense forest area, areas of the Upper Harz plateau with a completely different vegetation dominate here. Along Bleichenkopf street, we cycle to Galgenberg, from where we can overlook the Elbingerode open-cast mine. Here, limestone is still being mined by Fels-Werke, making mining history an experience and tangible. We head east and cycle over large plateaus, which offer beautiful distant views and, depending on the season, blooming mountain meadows. Just before Hüttenrode, we turn left onto the Elbingerode path and then follow the old Elbingerode military road into the forest. We follow Herzogsweg straight on to Blankenburg. A detour to the Great Blankenburg Castle is worth it, especially since we pass directly by the old walls. From there, we have a wonderful view of the city and the northern Harz foreland. We turn right into Schieferberg street and then keep left into Welfenstraße. Here, too, we turn left at the end into Rübeländer street and at the bend right into Eichenbergweg. Along Am Eichenberg street, we leave Blankenburg heading west and follow the panoramic hiking trail into the Blankenburg district of Oesig and from there to Michaelstein Abbey. The former Cistercian abbey is a place of peace and relaxation. During opening hours, a visit to the museum is worthwhile to learn more about the interesting history. But even without that, we can soak in the special atmosphere and explore the grounds. We want to continue and follow the road to Heimburg. At the spot where the Mühlen hiking trail crosses our road, we turn left and cycle along Teufelsbach through the forest. We keep going straight, cross Trecktal street, and continue on Maerkerstieg. We pass Heimburg. Pushing the bike, we can quickly turn right up to Ziegenberg or Stuvenberg to enjoy the view from there. Then we pass through Benzingerode from east to south and cycle via Schul- and Brunnenstraße as well as Leitweg back onto Maerkerstieg, which we follow westward through the forest. Here we ride back to Wernigerode on the R1 Eurovelo route, where we soon reach our starting point.