Parchimer Umland Administrative District: Nature, Trails and Regional Experiences

If you would like to combine nature, activity and regional culture during your trip, the Parchimer Umland Administrative District offers various points of interest. The landscape can be experienced along paths through forests and fields, by bicycle, on foot or on the water. There are also special destinations for families and visitors interested in culture.

Lewitz, Forests and Expansive Views

The almost 800-hectare area of carp ponds in the Lewitz is a nature reserve. All species of duck are native here. With a little patience, white-tailed eagles can also be observed. Numerous vantage points make it possible to watch the animals without disturbing them.

The Waldlewitz is a contiguous forest area measuring 10 by 10 km. You can explore it on foot, by bicycle or by horse-drawn carriage. Anyone wishing to compare different ways of getting around will find a clear contrast here between active travel and a more relaxed ride through the forest.

The Ruhner Berge nature conservation area includes the 32-metre-high observation tower on Ruhner Berg. The tower was opened for use in 2001 and offers views across the landscape in clear weather. The Ruhner Berge were designated a nature conservation area in 1994. For your planning, the weather conditions are therefore important too: the view is explicitly dependent on clear conditions.

Cycling, Hiking and Waterways

A cycling path approximately 9 km long and with a low level of difficulty leads from Neustadt-Glewe via Neuhof through the Lewitz to the Lewitz village of Matzlow-Garwitz and onward to its tourist attractions.

In Matzlow-Garwitz, the marina built in 1998 has 45 berths, supply and disposal facilities, and a filling station for waterway travellers. The connection with the water is directly defined by the facilities available here. When choosing your destination, you can therefore distinguish between experiences along the trails and services for waterway travellers without equating the two areas.

The circular hiking trail, or forest path, is approximately 10 km long and starts and ends at the waterway travellers’ rest area in Garwitz. It passes along the Müritz-Elde Waterway and through Malchow to the Pingelhof in Alt Damerow. The different lengths of the approximately 9-km cycling path and the approximately 10-km circular hiking trail make it easier to organize your day according to your preferred mode of transport and route length.

Culture and Experiences for Families

The Garwitz cultural hiking trail leads from the Old Lock Gate in Garwitz along the Elde through fields and forests to the Pingelhof, one of Mecklenburg’s finest farm complexes. Families will find a barefoot path, quiz stations, a small playground and a herb garden there.

At the Pingelhof, bread and cakes are regularly baked in a wood-fired oven according to traditional recipes. In Grebbin, visitors can also see an earth-built Dutch windmill dating from 1878. The mill provides another historic destination that can be considered a cultural attraction independently of the hiking trails.

At the Platschow Elephant Farm, adults and children can take part in a personal experience session by prior registration. Together with a keeper, they can care for and feed elephants, shower them, depending on the weather, or go for walks with them. The experience is therefore aimed at visitors seeking an explicitly guided and personal encounter; registration is part of the described process, as is the weather-dependent possibility of showering the elephants.

Other places in the Parchimer Umland Administrative District include Spornitz, Damm, Domsühl, Groß Godems, Karrenzin, Lewitzrand, Obere Warnow, Rom, Severin, Ziegendorf and Zölkow.

For the overarching travel overview: Ludwigslust-Parchim.