The best walks and hikes around Havekost

Around 500 cup stones in Sachsenwald bear witness to early settlement. These often mysterious finds from the Neolithic or Bronze Age feature artificially hammered, cup-shaped depressions. The exact purpose of these "cups" is still scientifically debated, but cultic, religious, or astronomical meanings are suspected. Schleswig-Holstein, particularly the eastern hill country and the Sachsenwald in the Herzogtum Lauenburg district, is rich in cup stone finds. In the approximately 70 square kilometer Sachsenwald, there are well over 1,000 archaeological monuments, including, in addition to cup stones, also megalithic tombs (large stone graves) and burial mounds. The locations of the monuments in Sachsenwald are usually hidden away from the paths and are generally not publicly signposted to protect them from vandalism. This particular cup stone also lies off the path and if you didn't know about it, you wouldn't find it. Many thanks therefore to @Juckbeere for uploading this special highlight. I fully support Juckbeere's appeal below and ask that it be absolutely respected. "Please treat this place with the utmost respect and do not change anything there under any circumstances, as this place is still treated as a natural sanctuary, this applies especially to the offerings on site!!!" https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schalenstein

This is probably the thickest oak tree in the Sachsenwald. It is probably around 300 years old and has a trunk circumference of almost 6 m. Unfortunately, it died a few years ago, but its mighty trunk is still very impressive.

Unfortunately, the condition of the road has apparently suffered greatly over time under the influence of heavy rain, because depending on which side you come from, the surface was very difficult to drive on

The bridge over the 'Schwarze Au' stream in the Sachsenwald forest – the railing looks somewhat dilapidated – has seen better days...

The German federal highway 404 (abbreviation: B 404) leads from Kiel to Lüneburg. The B 404, also known as the "North-South Road" and "Kieler Schnellweg", has been rebuilt since the 1950s as a completely new route from Kiel to the south, with the exception of the areas between Stolpe and Bornhöved (in the 1970s as A 21 completed) and between Grande and Geesthacht. It was planned as a fast connection between Kiel and the A 1 and thus as a relief route for the B 4, which at that time, before the A 7 was built, was the main connection between Kiel and Hamburg. In the 1960s, construction continued south of the A 1. The B 404 was already built there without crossing. The four-lane expansion between Neversdorf and Bad Oldesloe took place in the mid-1980s. In 1992 the four-lane expansion of the subsequent route between Negernbötel and Neversdorf, and in 1998 the route between Bad Oldesloe and Hammoor was completed. In that year, the entire four-lane section between Negernbötel and Hammoor was upgraded to a motorway. (Source: Wikipedia)

very nicely secluded here in the Sachsenwald

Always worth a hike

Just the right place for a break