Harz Circular Trail 5th Stage

Our last stage takes us from Osterode via Seesen to Goslar. We ride past the swimming pool via Schwimmbadstraße, Schillerstraße, and Klingenhagener Weg, climbing quite steeply. Behind the last house on the right side, we turn right onto the so-called tractor expressway. The path is paved and leads us in gentle curves a bit west to Ührde and then towards Petershütte. We ride through a dolomite and gypsum landscape. Here, precipitation no longer flows above ground, and the riverbeds are usually dry throughout the year. You can find types of rocks here that dissolve in water. In the southern Harz, these are mainly gypsum (calcium sulfate) and dolomite (calcium-magnesium carbonate).
From Petershütte, we continue to Förste; we follow the "Hexe" by bike through Neuhütte, Teichhütte to Gittelde. Attention: The path to the Stauffenburg estate is very steep and sandy. However, before the small forest, we turn right and bump along a narrow path around the hilly forest ridge, cross the federal road, and then cycle on the bike path along the federal road through Münchehof, Herrhausen to Seesen.

We ride a stretch on the federal road 248 towards Neuekrug/Hahausen. Behind the gas station, we cross the B 248 and turn left towards Winkelsmühle, following the signposts to Bornhausen. Here we ride on the R1 to Neuekrug/Hahausen. Difficult climbs like in the eastern Harz area are not to be tackled here. With slight ups and downs, we head towards Langelsheim, riding parallel to the road to Herzog Juliushütte. Now we decide to tackle one last ramp, up to the Granetalsperre. The dam was built up in the mid-1860s. It is 62 meters high above the valley floor. Its reservoir can hold almost 50 million cubic meters of water. A forest road about 14 km long runs around the reservoir. The soft Harz water is pumped all the way to Bremen. At the top of the dam, we look out over the water and are happy that we are almost done.
From the dam, we return via Herzog Juliushütte to Astfeld. Here we cross the B 82. The path now gets worse. At the next opportunity, we take a narrow field path to the Riechenberg monastery. When we stand with our backs to the entrance gate, we turn left and after another 50 meters sharply left again into a small wood. The narrow path leaves the entrance to the rose crypt on the left. At the end, we turn right, cross two bridges, and turn right again. From here, the route goes along the main cemetery of the city of Goslar. We keep left, at the end turn right onto the roadside bike path, and we are back in the middle of the city of Goslar.