Stage 8: “Paul-Gerhardt Path” from Märkisch Buchholz - Schlepzig

The eighth 24-kilometre stage is the longest single stretch of the Paul-Gerhardt path. You can also make this a 2-day or even 3-day tour, with overnight stays in Leibsch and Schlepzig. This allows you to explore the idyllic villages and towns and their sights in your own good time. The 8th stage features a lot of woodland and a long quiet section along the Dahme flood canal. A break at Lake Schwanensee will be particularly worth your while. Here hikers can take a break in the anglers’ club’s comfortable shelter. You then walk past Leibsch, a Wendish-Sorbian village. It was first mentioned when it was gifted to Nienburg monastery by Emperor Heinrich II in 1004. Today Leibsch is a district of the Unterspreewald municipality and is part of the Spreewald Biosphere Reserve. Once you get to Schlepzig, make sure you pay the agricultural museum a visit as well as the “Weidendom”, a natural dome formed from willows. 
Length (duration): 24 kilometres (6 hours)
Route sign: Signets and hiking signs of the Paul-Gerhardt path
Route: The route takes you mostly along natural ground through large woodland areas along the Dahme flood canal, past the Köthener Heideseen lakes and into the Spreewald.
Trail conditions: 

75% natural paths, 5% partially paved and 20% of the paths have a hard surface.
Points of interest along the route:
Nature: Forests, open wide country, different kinds of waters, Köthener Heideseen lakes, observation tower on the Wehlaberg (a little off-route), Weidendom Schlepzig willow dome.
Culture: Leibsch needle weir: Museum weir with information panels, Schlepzig agricultural museum, Schelpzig Huttendenkmal memorial.
By public transport:
Start: Märkisch Buchholz has a bus connection to Königs Wusterhausen.
Finish: There is a bus from Schlepzig to Lübben.

All locations are within the VBB regional tariff zone.
How to get there by car: There is parking at the start and finish, but you cannot drive from the finish back to the starting point.
Recommended maps/Literature:

Rad- und Wanderkarte Unterspreewald Dahme-Heideseen, Verlag PUBLICPRESS; ISBN 978-3-7473-0278-1

Reschke, Manfred: Paul-Gerhardt-Weg “Natur und Kultur zwischen Berlin und Spreewald”, Trescher-Verlag; 1. Auflage 2017, 168 Seiten, 80 Fotos, 25 Karten und Stadtpläne, farbige Klappkarten, ISBN 978-3-89794-354-4

Find inspiration in the diary specifically published for this trail. The tourist information centres along the way give you hiking stickers for each completed stage, which you can stick in your diary. They also give you song sheets of the poet’s most famous songs.

You can find all souvenirs of the Paul-Gerhardt path to www.dahme-seenland.de/service/souvenirs/

Possible combinations/connection to other hiking trails:

66-Lakes Hiking Trail - Circular trail of Schlepzig and surroundings