WatersideWalk Huttaler Widerwaage ditch system
Short facts
- start: on the B 242 Clausthal - Braunlage, follow the sign "Hirschler/Pfauenteiche", turn right onto the Entensumpf car park
- destination: on the B 242 Clausthal - Braunlage, follow the sign "Hirschler/Pfauenteiche", turn right onto the Entensumpf car park
- easy
- 7,46 km
- 2 hours
- 83 m
- 622 m
- 573 m
- 80 / 100
- 10 / 100
best season
This walk will take you to all the important parts of the Huttaler Widerwaage ditch system. Here you will experience the impressive engineering of the Upper Harz Water Management System.
This easy circular walk near Clausthal-Zellerfeld will take you to all the important parts of the Huttaler Widerwaage ditch system. This is a system of ditches and ponds extending between the Hirschler Teich pond, the Dammgraben ditch, the Jägersbleeker Teich pond and several other ditches.
All of the ditches and ponds were connected. Their purpose was to supply the Hirschler Teich with enough water. From the Hirschler Teich the water was directed to the Caroline and Dorothea Mines. There it was needed to drive the water wheels.
The special feature of the ditches at the Huttaler Widerwaage is that they have no gradient. This means they are flat. The water can be sent in both directions. This is exceptional water engineering!
On your hike you will pass all of the most important parts of the Huttaler Widerwaage ditch system. At the end the route goes to the highest storage ponds around Clausthal.
You can read all of the information about this water engineering masterpiece on the information boards next to the path.
General information
Directions
The circular walk is 7 km long. It starts and finishes at the Entensumpf car park on the B 242 road. From here you first walk to the Huttaler Widerwaage. The small pond has walls constructed from natural stone. There, the water level could be increased so that the water flowed through the Huttaler Wasserlauf tunnel into the Hirschler Teich. At times when there was too much water in the Hirschler Teich, the weir at the Widerwaage pond could be opened so that the water flowed in the other direction through the tunnel, over the weir and down the Huttal Valley into the Söse river. Or through the Huttaler Graben ditch to the Jägersbleeker Teich.
From the Huttaler Widerwaage pond the walk follows the Huttaler Graben ditch along the side of the valley and over a small aqueduct across the dam of a disused storage pond. An aqueduct is a kind of bridge for a water channel.
Cross the B 242 road and keep to the right. Walk down the hill on the forest track to the Dammgraben ditch. Turn left onto the path next to the ditch and then follow it to the Polsterberger Hubhaus restaurant. From there the walk continues through scenic forest landscape passing the Jägersbleeker Teich and Hirschler Teich ponds, back to the car park.
Tip
The Polsterberger Hubhaus is a very nice forest restaurant. The products on the menu are all from the local region. The fresh home-made cakes are especially tasty.
Parking
on the B 242 Clausthal - Braunlage, follow the sign "Hirschler/Pfauenteiche", turn right onto the Entensumpf car park
Literature
Martin Schmidt: WasserWanderWege – Ein Führer durch das Oberharzer Wasserregal – UNESCO-Weltkulturerbe, 4. Auflage, Papierflieger Verlag GmbH, Clausthal-Zellerfeld 2012, ISBN 978-3-86948-200-2 UNESCO-Welterbe - Bergwerk Rammelsberg, Altstadt Goslar und Oberharzer Wasserwirtschaft Faltbroschüre im DIN lang Format, die die zugehörigen touristischen Einrichtungen entlang der Oberharzer Wasserwirtschaft mit einem Kurztext und Fotos darstellt. Auf der Rückseite befinden sich drei Übersichtskarten, die die Welterbe-Wege, die touristischen Ziele und die Lage des Welterbes insgesamt zeigen. Preis: 2,00 € Erhältlich bei allen Touristinformationen der Region oder online unter shop.harzinfo.de.
Additional Information
Oberharzer Bergwerksmuseum
Bornhardtstr. 16
38678 Clausthal-Zellerfeld
Tel. 05323 98950
info@oberharzerbergwerksmuseum.de
www.oberharzerbergwerksmuseum.de
Stiftung UNESCO-Welterbe im Harz
Bergtal 19
38640 Goslar
info@welterbeimharz.de
www.welterbeimharz.de
Pavings
- Crushed Rock (38%)
- Path (46%)
- Hiking Trail (13%)
- Street (2%)
- Asphalt Coating (1%)