20 grüne Hauptwege: Trail 3 - Heiligenseer Weg (24 km)

Back in October, while the weather was slowly turning from summer to autumn, I used the weekends to go on various hikes throughout Berlin. I continued with the third trail of Berlin's 20 Green Trails, which was the Heiligenseer Weg, with a distance of 24 kilometres. This time, I started near the northern boundary of Berlin, picking up the trailhead near Heiligen See station of the S-Bahn.

The beginning of the trail is actually quiet, passing through idyllic residential areas, and then encountering lakes, and eventually ending up in the middle of the city.

In the beginning, the trail was just following this little stream, going behind houses. It's basically a jogging trail skirting a neighbourhood.

Then it goes through some agricultural area. I didn't think such a piece of land would be within the city borders, but yes, there's farmland within the city of Berlin.

Then, the trail eventually meets Tegeler See, a large lake within the city. You'll see areas where boats are parked, and there's also quite a few bridges to cross. There's some swanky condominiums that have lake views, which definitely look expensive. Some of these residential units even have their own boat docks where they can park their own vessels.

Eventually, the trail veers heading to the east, leaving Tegeler See behind. It then heads towards Flughafensee, which is a small lake north of Tegel Airport. At some point, it crosses Kurt-Schumacher-Damm, and goes alongside the Julius-Leber-Barracks.

Eventually, the trail slowly becomes more urban, as it then traces the Berlin-Spandauer Schifffahrtskanal. This canal was built between 1848 and 1859, linking the Havel River with the Spree River. There's quite a bit of industrial elements on its shore, since ships used to pass by here, bringing cargo.

At some point, it joins the Berliner Mauerweg, passing through Invaliden Cemetery. Along this part of the trail, there are even towers that were built decades ago, intended for border guards.

Several swanky buildings are now present here. This area used to be a wasteland because of the Berlin Wall, but nowadays, this area is prime real estate.

Near the end of the trail, one comes across the Futurium, which is one of Berlin's newest museums. I still haven't checked it out.

Finally, the trail ends at the Regierungsviertel, or Government Quarter. One sees the stunning modern buildings such as the Marie-Elisabeth-Lüders-Haus as well as the Paul-Löbe-Haus. Here is where the trail wraps up. At the end, I then headed to Berlin's main train station, which was just a few minutes away, and made my way home.