IllustrationCome to Westensee for a day of wooded lakeshores, quiet birdwatching and a climb above the water.
Come to Westensee for a day of wooded lakeshores, quiet birdwatching and a climb above the water. For a first family visit, choose the Schierensee lakes: start with the village’s walking map, decide how far everyone wants to go, and leave time to pause wherever the trees open onto the water. With very young children, the much shorter woodland learning trail at Blumenthal is an easier starting point.
This is a landscape of about 250 square kilometres between Kiel, Rendsburg and Neumünster, with villages, farms, woods and several protected areas. The Westensee itself gives the park its name, while the smaller Schierensee lakes make manageable walking destinations. At Tüteberg, near Westensee village, a climb to the viewpoint reveals how hills and lake basins fit together.
Slow down beside the water. A grebe disappearing beneath the surface is a good reason to put the camera down and watch where it reappears. Spring brings flowers beneath the trees; the colder half of the year brings visiting waterbirds. Keep an eye on the sky for a distant eagle, too, and enjoy the smaller encounters along the way. Don't forget to bring the Snappit nature identification app along to scan local species.
The hills and hollows were shaped by advancing and retreating ice. A glacier excavated the Westensee basin, while the Schierensee lakes formed where buried ice survived and later melted, leaving depressions. People subsequently changed the drainage: construction of the Kiel Canal lowered the Westensee’s water level by about a metre in 1892. Estate landscapes and medieval churches add another layer to a walk through the villages. The Ahrensee and northeastern Westensee became a nature reserve in 1989.
The Blumenthal Waldlehrpfad is a 0.7 km return walk from the entrance at Am Scheidekrug, with short branches and a shared outward-and-back section. Read a few of the wooden boards about trees, wildlife and woodland history, then let children compare bark and leaf shapes. Most of the route is natural-surface path.
For a proper lake walk, choose Schierensee’s 5.4 km Seerunde around the Großer Schierensee. The 8.4 km Große Seerunde adds the Kleiner Schierensee and a stretch towards the Westensee. Both are complete circuits, mixing woodland paths with village or roadside sections. The routes are coloured on the municipal map but are not waymarked on the ground. The bathing-place car park on Am Heidberg lies on both circuits.
Tüteberg is a separate viewpoint outing from Westensee village. Follow the local signs from Am Tüteberg near the youth hostel and return by the same approach. The hill rises to roughly 88 m above sea level. An entire Westensee circuit is much longer: the park’s shortened tour is about 21 km, and its wider tour about 40 km.
Wet leaves and muddy stretches can slow woodland walks; postpone them in strong winds. For rail journeys, RE74/RB75 services have evening, overnight and early-morning changes on 14–18 October 2026. Rendsburg bridge works also affect late-evening, overnight and early-morning travel around Saturday/Sunday and Sunday/Monday nights through 12 December 2026. Check your actual outward and return connections before setting off.
The park labels Blumenthal’s short trail pushchair-friendly, and its published profile has very little height change. Most of it is natural-surface path, so a robust pushchair is preferable; this is not a verified wheelchair-accessible route. Detailed widths and gradients are unavailable. The Schierensee circuits contain woodland paths, roads and changes of level, without a confirmed step-free specification. Tüteberg involves an uphill walk. Ask the park about current ground conditions and the needs of your particular chair before travelling.
Two lake circuits through the woods around Schierensee.
The broad lake view from Tüteberg.
A short, thoughtful woodland learning trail at Blumenthal.
Grebes, spring flowers and a chance of a distant white-tailed eagle.
Follow the short learning route into the woodland, taking time at the wooden information boards. The published route includes a small circuit, a retraced branch and the shared entrance path.
Labelled pushchair-friendly by the park. The owner describes weather-resistant paths and seating in the summer half-year. Wheelchair-specific dimensions and accessible toilets are unverified.
Use the municipality’s green Seerunde around the Großer Schierensee, joining woodland and village sections. The bathing place gives a useful open-water pause.
No verified wheelchair or pushchair specification. Choose this for walkers comfortable with natural paths; wet conditions can make footing more difficult.
Use the municipality’s longer light-green circuit. It combines both lakes, the bridge over the Unterer Schierenseebach and the Wrohe side of the Westensee. It is 8.4 km in total, not 8.4 km added to the shorter walk.
No verified wheelchair or pushchair specification. Choose this for walkers comfortable with natural paths; wet conditions can make footing more difficult.
Make Blumenthal’s short trail the main event, with plenty of time to look at the boards and trees. Add a picnic you have brought rather than depending on a café at the trailhead.
Walk the 5.4 km Seerunde and finish at the bathing place. In suitable summer weather, add a supervised swim after checking the local notices. The seasonal café is an optional extra, so bring food and drinks.
Set aside the main part of the day for the 8.4 km Große Seerunde. Pause at the connecting stream and lake views, then return to your original starting point. Keep Tüteberg for another visit if energy is running low.
Choose one public lakeside opening and give it five unhurried minutes. Let each person describe a bird’s behaviour before trying to name it: diving, floating, flying or preening.
At Tüteberg’s viewpoint, pick out water, wooded slopes and open fields. The hill is roughly 88 m above sea level, enough to make the shape of the landscape easier to understand. Follow the signed public approach and return the same way.
At Blumenthal, choose a board, find the tree it describes and look for one detail you would otherwise have missed. There is no need to read every sign or collect anything.
This separate museum has fossils, Ice Age displays and a full-size dinosaur model. Normal opening is Saturday and Sunday, 10:00–17:00, with weekdays by arrangement; Christmas and New Year are excluded. It announces a closure on 17 October 2026. Check the homepage before travelling.
In light rain and calm conditions, Blumenthal keeps the walking commitment small. The owner describes weather-resistant paths, but the trail remains outdoors. In strong wind or thunderstorms, choose the museum on an opening day or postpone the walk.
Scan open water from an established shore viewpoint. Watch a grebe dive, then wait for it to surface; keep well away from birds with chicks.
Use binoculars to compare the ducks on open water. Goldeneyes use tree cavities, so leave nest boxes and waterside woodland undisturbed.
A quick blue flash may be all you see. Pause quietly on a public path beside water; do not search banks for nest holes.
Look across the lake and above the treeline for a large, broad-winged bird. Enjoy distant views and never leave the path to find a nest.
In the warmer part of the year, watch for slender birds hunting above the water. Observe from public shore access and leave the protected nesting rafts alone.
On a warm day, look along waterside vegetation from a path or bridge. Males have dark bands across their wings; photograph without trampling the bank.
Look for spring flower clusters beneath the trees. Use the edge of an existing path for your photograph and leave bulbs and flowers untouched.
At Blumenthal, compare smooth beech bark with neighbouring trees. Fresh leaves, autumn colour and winter branches each make a different woodland photograph.
Look for pale-yellow flowers low to the ground in spring. Enjoy them where they grow; leave these wild woodland plants undisturbed.
The protected lake edges grade from aquatic plants into reeds, sedges and damp woodland. Those crowded-looking margins give wildlife food and cover; stay at established access points instead of pushing through for a clearer photograph.
The Unterer Schierenseebach links the Kleiner Schierensee to the lower Westensee. Its bridge on the larger circuit is a place to notice moving water and streamside shade. Leave the streambed alone; its small animals are part of what makes it valuable.
Blumenthal’s trail crosses a historic woodland site. The boards connect trees and timber with climate, food webs and local history, giving a short walk something for curious adults as well as children.
The two Schierensee basins are dead-ice hollows: detached blocks of ice prevented infilling, then left depressions when they melted. The nearby Westensee owes its basin to a moving glacier.
In 2026 the park installed goldeneye nest boxes around the Westensee and Eider and new nesting rafts for common terns. These measures help free-living birds; they do not turn the lake into an animal exhibit.
The municipal Schierensee map marks parking at the bathing place on Am Heidberg, directly on the two recommended lake circuits. Check signs on arrival.
The village lists Café am See 17 at Am Heidberg 1a as a May–September weekend option. Bring supplies outside that season and confirm current opening.
During the autumn 2026 rail works, wheelchair users need to select suitable replacement connections. The operator excludes accessibility for its replacement coaches.
Each card links to a full Explore page with photos, traits, and fun facts.
Start with the big picture, then zoom in to explore individual wildlife observations around this place.
Choose a trailhead
the nature park has no single visitor entrance. Keep the municipal Schierensee map available offline; its route colours are not trail markers.
Travel by rail to Felde on RE74 or RB75, or to Achterwehr on RB75. Bus 765 links Felde with Westensee village. Plan onward travel separately for Schierensee or Blumenthal.
Schierensee’s current village information lists buses 794, 795 and 796. Check school-day, weekend and holiday services in NAH.SH rather than relying on an old walking leaflet.
Pack a picnic and water. The café at Schierensee’s bathing place is seasonal, normally a weekend option from May to September; confirm before counting on it.
Watch from public paths and established shore access. Keep dogs close and on a lead, and leave flowers, fallen wood and nesting areas undisturbed.
Swim only at designated bathing places and check current local water-quality notices. A bathing place is not automatically a boat-launching point.
For paddling, read the park’s current water-use rules first. Achterwehr is the only public launch; lake access depends on the RSVW permit sticker and protected zones.
For a wet-day alternative, Tor zur Urzeit in Brügge has geology and fossil displays. It normally opens at weekends, but is closed on 17 October 2026; weekday visits need to be arranged ahead.
Recent snaps will appear here as new observations are added.
Maryland, US
You might spot White-Tailed Deer and Eastern Gray Squirrel.
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District of Columbia, US
You might spot Eastern Gray Squirrel, Duck, and House Sparrow.
View guide →
Illinois, US
You might spot American Robin, Canada Goose, and House Sparrow.
View guide →
Virginia, US
You might spot Spotted Lanternfly and Northern Cardinal.
View guide →
Take the discovery with you
Identify the wildlife you spot, learn as you go, and keep a collection of the adventure.
