The best hikes from bus stations around Deister

The Nienstedter Blick lies above this rock formation and can be reached via a small path on the left.

The Schwedenfindling or also Deisterfindling is a glacial erratic that was found in 2012 in the Deister near Egestorf. In 2020, it was designated as a natural monument under the designation „Deister- or Schwedenfindling“. The unusual altitude of 365 m above sea level at the find spot is of scientific importance. It proves that the Deister, contrary to previous assumptions, was glaciated up to its ridge during at least one of the last three ice ages. Glacial erratics are not transported this far on the surface of glaciers. A glacier thickness of at least 50 m would have been required to transport such a heavy erratic. Therefore, it is assumed that the glacier crossed the mountains, which are a maximum of 405 m high. Gradient calculations result in an ice cover of up to 500 m for present-day Hanover. Source: https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schwedenfindling

A small, stony path leads left past the hut to the Alte Taufe, about 100 m away.

The „Schweden-Findling“ (Swedish Boulder) was found in 2012 by a member of the Natural History Society of Hannover under the root plate of a spruce that had fallen in winter, at an altitude of 365 m above sea level. It weighs 100 kg and has the dimensions 55 x 37 x 34 cm. Its dimensions are not comparable to spectacular finds in the wider area, which were made at much lower altitudes. An example is the boulder found in 2013 near Ostermunzel (municipality of Barsinghausen) at an altitude of about 60 m above sea level, made of Scandinavian gneiss, which weighs 27.5 tons and has a circumference of approx. 10 m. You can reach the Schweden-Findling by walking about 1.5 km along the road and footpath that leads from the car park at Nienstedter Pass to the Nordmannsturm. The boulder and an information board are located directly by the path. From there, it is just under 500 m to the Nordmannsturm. The Schweden-Findling was unequivocally identified by glacial erratic experts as Hardeberga sandstone, a very dense and hard sandstone from the region of Scania in southern Sweden. The Hardeberga deposits were formed about 540 million years ago in the Cambrian period. These deposits have become very strongly consolidated and are much harder than the comparatively weakly consolidated, much younger sandstones from the Cretaceous period that form the Deister. Source: https://schwedenfindling.n-g-h.org/

As uphill a number

There are also beautiful narrow paths in the Deister, this is one of them.

Very beautiful view from the Deisterpanoramweg into the Weserbergland, Ith and Süntel

The Devil's Pulpit (Teufelskanzel) is a rocky outcrop in the Deister hills near Nienstedt, designated as a natural monument. It lies within the Devil's Chamber (Teufelskammer), a section of the state forest in the Deister hills between the Nordmann Tower (Nordmannsturm) and the Old Baptismal Font (Alte Taufe). Besides the forestry use of the beech forest, there was a quarry east of the Devil's Pulpit near the Nordmann Tower, as well as several mine shafts, such as the Devil's Chamber Tunnel (Teufelskammerstollen) about 500 meters west of the Devil's Pulpit, for extracting coal. Numerous other smaller sandstone blocks can be found on the Deister slopes in the vicinity of the Devil's Pulpit. This is due to the varying weathering of the sandstone and marl layers from the Lower Cretaceous period that outcrop on the southwest slope and dip to the northeast. Source: https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Teufelskanzel_(Nienstedt)