Discover the wilderness up close by canoe
Canoeists can experience the Lower Oder Valley National Park up close with guided canoe trips starting July 15th.
Visitors can also see the Lower Oder Valley National Park from the water. From July 15th to November 14th, the Oder Valley becomes a very special destination for those who want to experience the wild nature of the Oder floodplain up close from a canoe. During this time, there are guided canoe trips on selected bodies of water. Prior to July 15th, canoeing in the sensitive protected area of the Lower Oder Valley is generally prohibited in order not to disturb the breeding season of native birds.
On three established routes, canoeists can enter the mysterious water world of the Oder Valley. Tours 1 and 2 take you 7.2 and 11 kilometre rides, respectively, through the polder landscape on the backwaters of the Oder. Trained canoe guides lead the way through the branched water labyrinth. Nearer than in a boat, only a few centimetres above the water’s surface and moving forward with silent paddle strokes, visitors can hardly get closer to nature in the Oder Valley. If you are calm and quiet, beavers, great crested grebes and grey herons as well as black, little and common terns can be observed while searching for food. Also the flora offers impressive experiences for canoeists. The flowering rush, water soldiers, water lilies and arrowhead plants grow here. Both tours begin at the Water Sport Centre in Schwedt. Before the national park experience can start, the canoes need to be carried over the dyke. After only a few paddle strokes, the canoeist finds himself in the deepest wilderness again. The contrast of the immediate neighbourhood of industrial city and untouched nature becomes a tangible experience
Tour 3 of the canoe trips leads through the dry polder in the southern part of the Lower Oder Valley National Park. The start and finish points are located at the Hohensaaten-Friedrichsthaler Waterway in Stolpe or Stützkow. This canoe tour takes you on a 7.2 kilometre trip on backwaters of the Oder, streams and a small lake through the southern part of the National Park. Here, too, experiencing pure wilderness in close proximity to village settlements is attractive. We recommend you combine this canoe trip with a visit to the Stolper tower. The tower is perched on a range of hills above the town of Stolper and is the last surviving part of a 12th-century medieval fortress. With a diameter of 18 metres, it is the largest castle keep in Brandenburg. From there, visitors can enjoy an impressive panorama view over the southern Lower Oder Valley.
The National Park canoe tours are available through the Tourist Board of the Lower Oder Valley National Park e.V., Berliner Straße 46 - 48, 16303 Schwedt/Oder Tel.: 03332 25590, Fax: 03332 255959, www.unteres-odertal.de, touristinfo@unteres-odertal.de. They can only be booked there. The starting points for canoe tour 3 are also given here. Only guided canoe tours are permitted in the Lower Oder Valley National Park. Canoeing on your own is forbidden and not safe due to the branched water labyrinth.
The tours are offered by the
Lower Oder Valley National Park e.V., Berliner Straße 46 - 48 16303 Schwedt/Oder
Telephone: +49 (0)3332 25590,
Telefax: +49 (0)3332 255959
www.unteres-odertal.de
touristinfo@unteres-odertal.de
They can only be booked there.The starting points for canoe tour 3 are also given here. Only guided canoe tours are permitted in the Lower Oder Valley National Park. Canoeing on your own is forbidden and not safe due to the branched water labyrinth..