There are many beautiful places in the Upper Harz, such as Tanne, Trautenstein, Stiege, Hohegeiß or Benneckenstein. Benneckenstein is located 500 m above sea level at the head water of Rappbode. Alongside the former German border you come across the border to Saxony in the West and to Thuringia in the South. The border triangle Saxony-Saxony-Anhalt-Thuringia lies about 3.3 km southwest of Benneckenstein. There you will find the so called three-province-stone marking the region, which is a special hiking stamp by now.
This favourable position made Benneckenstein a nice starting point for our 4-stamp-tour. The stamps Walzenhütte (no. 50), Oberharzblick am Buchenberg (no. 47), the goat alp Sophienhof (no. 97) and the Stierbergsteich (no. 48) were on the programme. I already had three of them, however no. 97 was broken at that time, that’s why I wanted to get it again at its full value – and it worked.
Once again the weather and the sentiment could not have been better. The tour had an overall length of 20 km offering nice rest stops on the way, such as the “Brauner Hirsch” or the “Ziegenalm” in Sophienhof as well as the Waldschlößchen or the hotel Harzhaus in Benneckenstein.
At our last stamp stop for the day, the Stierbergsteich, we made a surprising observation: The lake seems to give shelter to hundreds (maybe thousands) of pollywogs. There were flocks of them, clustered to deep black swarms, everywhere. We wondered what this rather quite lake would be look and sound like after they mutated into frogs.
The tour back from Stiebergsteich to Benneckenstein is also recommendable for its nature and adventure-trail. You can learn something about old instruments of charburner or take a hydrotherapy along the way. Close to the village boundary of Benneckenstein you will come across the Waldbühne (forest stage) which seems to be in use. For a chill out after the walk I recommend the terrace garden of the hotel Harzhaus.
