Circular route Blankenburg

The route starts at the tourist information center at Schnappelberg and leads down the street of the same name to the roundabout at Lühnertorplatz. The app guides you through the green area and parallel to Herzogstraße through a quiet residential area. If you want to buy something tasty for a picnic, taking the ride through Herzogstraße is also recommended. There are two bakeries here.

Heading out of town, you pass through Kuno-Rieke-Str. and Weinbergstraße. After the railway underpass, you turn right along the A36, which you will shortly cross. At the forest edge, "Jogy's Waldkneipe" offers the first refreshment opportunity. At this point, you turn left along the Bundeswehr grounds on the historically named "Alte Heerstraße" (Old Military Road). The path is quite rooty and sandy and requires some concentration. The detour to the tour's first highlight, the large sandstone caves, is reached after about one kilometer along the forest edge. At the junction, you will find marker No. 6 on a brown petal. It marks one of the popular circular hiking trails through the Heers forest area, which you are welcome to use for orientation here. Now you reach one of the most beautiful spots in the entire Harz. The thousand-times photographed sandstone caves, about the size of a football field, exert a great attraction on families, mystics, stamp hunters, film crews, romantics, hikers, and cyclists. You are rarely alone here; however, you will always find a spot for a picnic.

Continue by circling the sandstone caves above and leave the area near the Harzer Wandernadel stamp box. On the way to the "Alte Heerstraße", which you already know, you will see Regenstein Castle and Fortress towering impressively above the treetops. The mighty rock massif, with its rooms carved into the rock as an open-air museum, is an excursion destination worth visiting separately.

You will find a bit more peace than at the usually well-visited large sandstone caves at the small sandstone caves if you turn right again from the main path.

Opposite, a forest path leads straight to Regenstein Mill. The former medieval, once water-driven grain mill belonged to Regenstein Castle from the 12th to the 16th century. It has been uncovered again and equipped with two authentic millwheel replicas. The last meters to the millwheels are only accessible on foot via several stairs. A shelter and seating invite you to rest.

After the short detour to the mill, you leave the pine forest and continue along the northern edge of the "Heers", where another historic mill awaits you, the Goldbach Mill. It is fascinating to learn that in 1934, the Büttner brothers (coffee roastery Halberstadt) created this manor house-like ambiance from teak beams of a decommissioned frigate.

Your bike route leads you to the heavily trafficked B81, which must be crossed carefully. Behind the opposite property with the long wooden fence on the other side of the street, a two-lane concrete path leads left under the A36 and into the meadow and orchard landscape near Heimburg. Please keep left after the underpass and cross the open area. If you look back from here, you can still enjoy a nice view of Regenstein.

At the end of the path, you meet district road 1347 between Heimburg and Blankenburg's district "Oesig". Follow this for about 500 m before taking a small embankment path down to the left shortly before the bridge. (You can also stay on the road and follow the signs of the long-distance cycle route R1 to Michaelstein Monastery). The "app route" leads from here over part of the Blankenburg geological trail. Especially in spring, the shady forest smells wonderfully of wild garlic. At the end of the path, cross the bridge to the right, past the mini waterfall to the Mönchemühlenteich. You can refresh yourself at the kiosk before the last kilometers of the tour. Along the pond, please be considerate of walkers, as the path is quite narrow. The short climb to the road can also be pushed on foot. At the road, turn right, take the second exit at the roundabout towards Michaelstein Monastery. It is worth planning some time for this experience area because here you can not only admire musical instruments from the last four centuries but also enjoy peace in the cool walls, herbal scents in the monastery garden, or a cool drink in the nearby gastronomy.

Continue through the frequently photographed, pretty gatehouse. Immediately after, turn left and after about 400 m turn left again, past the Harzer Wandernadel stamp box, between the 1st and 2nd ponds, and follow the signs of the panoramic hiking trail. At the Schäferlinde, you will meet the Europaradweg R1 again, whose signs you can follow from here towards Blankenburg. Behind the Great Castle, you leave the R1 and ride through the castle park, down Vogelherdstraße to Schnappelberg, back to the tour's starting point.