Easy hikes and walks in Buch

A dream in winter

A beautiful area with wonderful scenery... ideal for spending relaxing hours.

They stand there as if they were out of time – large, warm creatures with horns cast as if from bronze and a gaze that pierces through their own hair. Highland cattle. More myth than farm animal. You don't meet them; you walk into their world. Without a fence, without warning. Sometimes you don't see them at all – they're simply gone. They've disappeared into the quiet undergrowth of the pond landscape, where people no longer disturb you. And if you're lucky, you'll find a cow standing in the middle of the path, as if it were part of the landscape's signage. No instinct to flee, just this calm. This sovereign leisurelyness. They devour their way through the year like an old melody, not rushed, not deterred. The Karow Ponds are their realm, and we are welcome to be guests. Perhaps with a pounding heart. Perhaps simply silent – like them.

You first have to navigate the green, which is sufficient in itself. The path to the willow pond isn't a walk, but a small test. The bushes whisper, the ground is springy, somewhere a duck croaks. It's this transition between settlement and swamp, where the world begins to breathe more slowly – and you with it. Then: a clearing. Water. A moment so still that even the humming stops. The view opens onto the shallow, shimmering body of water, lying there as if it had never done anything but reflect the sky. Reeds stand at attention in the fringe, a dragonfly flickers through the air, herons pose like ancient Japanese birds in gray ink. And in between – this vast, deep nothingness. No boat, no jetty, no purpose. Just landscape. The willow pond isn't a star among lakes, not a showpiece with a panoramic edge or a restaurant. It's the type that sits in the back row but sees everything. A migratory bird resting place. A place where stories rest. Those who stand here become quiet – not because it's required, but because it feels right. And while the city continues to blare a few hundred meters away, something greater than everyday life opens up here for a brief moment: a quiet, green thought.

Here, you can access the cattle pasture. There's no fence, no security between humans and animals. The animals are peaceful, but only as long as you treat them with sufficient distance and respect. Nevertheless, it's a wonderful opportunity to exercise personal responsibility. Dogs must, of course, be kept on a leash here.

Informative, nice place to look around and relax.

Here you can still find old pedunculate oaks, relics of the use of forest pastures, and old hornbeam stands. Rare wood-dwelling beetle species find a great habitat in the decaying old trees. And the Bogensee is an important amphibian spawning area.

You have to be lucky to spot these shaggy creatures. They are often withdrawn. Stress is probably not their thing.