I’ve taken a half dozen hikes starting from Borgsdorf into the Briesetal forest. The Briesetal was mined by glacier movements during the Ice Age and cut through by the river Briese. Along a three hour hike you can see the glacier dunes, pristine forest that are milled nearby, wild trees, and a fairy-tale marshland. Given the size of the Briesetal, you can easily choose a route to suit your mood – with as little or as much interaction with other people as you want. You can truly be alone once you get deep into the forest. Sundays, however, are especially…

12.03 kilometers through the Ruheforst Strausberg, Herrensee, and Straussee.  [Tour Link] The “Ruheforst” Strausberg is a forest cemetery where people can be buried in a tree. At first the plaques are easy to miss, but once you know what they are demand attention. The area was lined with informational plaques on details of the forest and vignettes of the lake. Unrelated to the Ruheforst (I think), there were smatterings of small works of art composed of stones, branches and other crafts. This is clearly a very communal space that was relatively busy for a cold late afternoon. The lakes are…

Grunewald is located in the western side of Berlin on the east side of the Havel. On this frosty day in January I hiked up to the Drachenberg, a hill that provides an excellent vantage point for looking out over the city. This hike was all about elevation change, which was refreshing after so many flat hikes. It was especially picturesque as a light snow fell, but I’ll admit I didn’t stay very long on the Drachenberg as it had a very brisk wind. The only other people up there were what looked like army ROTC guys running up and…