Bothkamp: Nature Trail, Lake and Estate History

Bothkamp can be explored through a range of themes: Bothkamp Lake, two distinct nature trails and historical traces of its estate history. These places and themes provide practical starting points for planning a trip if you would like to focus on nature, agriculture or history.

Lake and Landscape

Bothkamp Lake is located in Bothkamp and covers 1.376 square kilometres. The Dröge Eider flows through the lake. For a broader understanding of the landscape, it is worth looking at the Eider moraine region: gently rolling terrain, lakes, streams, wetlands, small deciduous forests and farmland shape the landscape there. This description refers to the wider area, not Bothkamp alone.

Anyone interested in bodies of water and landforms can connect information about the lake with impressions of the wider natural region.

Two Nature Trails with Different Themes

The Bothkamp Soil Discovery Trail is located in a converted gravel pit and has seven learning stations. These include a barefoot path, a soil window for observing soil-dwelling animals and a finger test for examining different soil grain sizes. Parking is available at the soil trail. The stations focus on soil characteristics and soil-dwelling animals, offering a different approach from a trail that is explored mainly through information boards.

The Bothkamp Nature Trail is an approximately three-kilometre circular route through fields, woodland and open countryside. More than 50 information boards cover nature, agriculture, forestry, fishing, hunting, beekeeping and food production. At Hof Siek, crops and their importance to modern agriculture are also presented. The route can therefore be viewed in light of your own interests in the landscape and agriculture: the boards cover several subject areas, while the presentation of crops provides a specific link to agriculture.

Routes and Directions

The nature trail is located within the Gut Bothkamp estate district. To get there, take the turn-off from the L49 near Leckerhölken Hus, then follow a one-kilometre access road to Hof Siek 7. Parking is available there. Check road conditions before setting out. The circular route is approximately three kilometres long; together with the more than 50 information boards, this gives you a better idea of the route’s scope.

A regional hiking route also offers a specific connection to the landscape: “In the Realm of the White-Tailed Eagle” provides views of Bothkamp Lake and Bothkamp Manor House. A regional route also uses a former railway line as a footpath for approximately 1.5 kilometres.

Estate History and Historical Traces

Bothkamp is recorded as an estate as early as 1243. Another historical trace is the surviving foundations of Bothkamp Observatory, which Friedrich Gustav von Bülow had built in 1869. The year places the observatory in the history of the area, while the surviving foundations provide a tangible architectural link to the subject. Together with the nature trail’s location in the estate district, this offers a distinct way to explore the estate’s history alongside the nature and agriculture themes of the trails.

The Broader Context: the Wider Travel Destination of Plön

At the level of the wider travel destination of Plön, the district offers a broader landscape perspective. Plön District has around 80 lakes, including Lake Großer Plöner See, covering 29 square kilometres, and Lake Selenter See, covering 22 square kilometres. The district lies between the Baltic Sea and the Holstein Switzerland region and has around 50 kilometres of Baltic Sea coastline. There are places to swim along the coast between Mönkeberg and Sehlendorfer Strand; possible activities there also include sailing, surfing, diving, boat trips, offshore excursions, cutter trips and surf fishing.

Plön District also offers a broader context for routes: its signposted cycle network covers 850 kilometres and may change as routes are updated; there are also developed Nordic walking trails.

Discover more destinations: Lehmkuhlen, Schellhorn, Warnau.

Go to the overview of the wider travel destination: Preetz-Land.