Stamp tour in the Harz Mountains: Glockenstein, Lauenburg and an autumnal forest idyll GPX Download

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I’ve now done this hike twice in a very similar form before I finally got around to presenting it to you here. Once in summer, when I collected all the stamps of the Harzer Wandernadel as part of #HWN2024, and another time on a glorious autumn day when we wanted to enjoy the beautiful atmosphere but didn’t have time for a long hike of 20 kilometers or more.

Incidentally, a section of this route crosses the Harz Monastery Hiking Trail, which we started to explore in stages at the beginning of the year. So far, however, we haven’t been beyond Ilsenburg, so this section was still unknown to us.

The hike takes us past two Harzer Wandernadel stamp points: the Glockenstein (no. 73) and the Lauenburg (no. 187). We start from the hiking parking lot in Stecklenberg and first walk to the Glockenstein. We were most impressed by the scenery on this part of the route – the path leads through a beautiful forest that looks simply magical in autumn.

If you’re wondering whether the detour to Georgshöhe, about 500 meters away, is worthwhile just before the Glockenstein: unfortunately not. We did it in the hope of finding a viewpoint there, but instead we only came across a fenced-in tower guarded by a warning sign for a snappy dog.

After stamping at the Glockenstein, the trail initially descends steeply before soon climbing again and leading to the Lauenburg stamping point. In my opinion, this stamping point is unfortunately somewhat unfortunately placed: it is neither directly next to the remains of the tower, which you can climb for a beautiful view over Stecklenberg, nor next to the castle ruins, which you should definitely visit.