Wooden Bridge at Dalbek Pond

Shortly after the Dalbek was dammed to form a pond, it continues flowing in its riverbed here. The small wooden bridge leads us across.Due to the prolonged drought, the Dalbek unfortunately carries little water here at the moment. A prolonged period of rain would be very beneficial for the flora and fauna here.The Dalbek is a small river that rises near Dassendorf and flows south via Börnsen and Escheburg to Hamburg-Altengamme.From there, the water is fed into the Dove Elbe via the Vierlande ditch system.The upper course north of Kröppelshagen is also called Bornbek according to the municipal map. The water quality is very good; even the "European eel" reaches the river during its migrations. During periods of heavy rain and snowmelt, the small, shallow river often becomes a raging water 6.2 km long.The source is in the southern Sachsenwald, 780 m west of Dassendorf at 62 m above sea level. NN. After a few meters, the stream, now still called Bornbek, leaves the unincorporated area of the Sachsenwald and flows north around the Bornberg settlement, then turns southwest through the meadows of the Kröppelshagen-Fahrendorf district. It crosses under the B207 at the entrance to Kröppelshagen and flows ungraded through the properties and fields until it reaches State Road 208.After crossing it, the Bornbek is dammed to form a firewater pond.From there, it flows through a game reserve that borders directly on the Dalbekschlucht nature reserve. Here, the water from a fen forest, dammed to form a fish pond, is collected. The Dalbek now crosses the nature reserve on the Geest slope near Börnsen and Escheburg, through an impressive valley. The Dalbek River overcomes a height difference of 38 m at an altitude of 2,850 m.
After leaving the nature reserve, it passes under County Road 80 at an elevation of 9 m above sea level, straightens out and passes the westernmost properties of Escheburg, the Bergedorf-Geesthacht railway line, the Dröge Wisch wetland area, the A25 motorway, and more wetland meadows. Here, at the border of the marshland and the marsh, lies the Hamburg/Schleswig-Holstein state border.This border runs in the middle of the Grenzgraben (border ditch), into which the Dalbek flows at an elevation of 3 m above sea level.The Grenzgraben drains through various cross ditches to the Brookwetterung (river ditch), which flows via the Bille lock ditch to the Dove Elbe.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dalbek

In the meantime, if you drive from Kröppelshagen into the gorge, you should continue to drive about 500m north of the Dalbek, as the route to the south is too badly damaged.

Mega!! Always my pleasure!! The track is really fun!!