Teufelsmühle | Silberhütte | Selkefall

About 10 kilometres south of Quedlinburg, halfway between Gernrode and Harzgerode, is the district of Sternhaus. This tour starts there at the old railway platform and, at around 30km, is not too long but still quite strenuous.

We start in a westerly direction and reach the rock formations of the large and small Teufelsmühle after just over 4 kilometres. These granite formations belong to Viktorshöhe and show the typical weathering of the Harz mountains. We continue southwards between Mühlberg and Uhlenstein, then through the village of Siptenfelde and then to Silberhütte at the southernmost point of the tour.

The route now continues north-east along the course of the Selke. At the spa town of Alexisbad, the route takes another detour to the west; if you wish, you can shorten the route by around 6 kilometres here. Now you reach St Peter's Chapel, designed by Schinkel, at the end of the town.

This is followed by another very scenic section in the wider Selke valley, through Klostermühle and past the Selke Falls. Then you come to a few places with equally striking names such as Drahtzug, Stahlhammer and Mägdesprung with its obelisk made of slate and cast iron, which was built 200 years ago.

From here, the loop closes a little further north, reaching Sternhaus.