Grumsin Beech Forest, June 2022

The forest can be visited as a half-day trip from Berlin via public transport. As other reviewers have pointed out the actual UNESCO-listed property is “verboten” to be visited on your own – there are paid official guided tours available, which require pre-booking well in advance. There are four official signposted hike trails which pass through the buffer zone and touch the borders of the core forest areas, but do not enter or cross it.

Even though Grumsin is close to Metropolis Berlin the area of the forest is very rural and the main access road to the little hamlet of Grumsin proper (half a dozen of farmhouses) is shockingly rough for a country like Germany. The wider area used to be the hunting grounds of the Brandenburg princes of lore, then followed by the clique around Goering (the remains of the Carinhall estate are nearby), and finally the red barons of the GDR stalked their deer and wild boars there, which may explain why the area remains relatively underdeveloped and relatively untouched. Even today, hunters’ high seats abound in the area.

With the UNESCO listing of Grumsin came change to the community around the forest – what used to be a quiet backwater now is being heavily marketed by local and regional tourist boards. Apparently, nobody asked the locals if they had an opinion, and the UNESCO listing came as a surprise (and shock) to many. Around Grumsin there are a number of banners hung up in the trees protesting the change and linking to a (well-made) Web page giving more background. I would recommend reading the articles on that page either before or after a visit to learn more about the impact tourist hordes can have on small local villages, the rift and controversies it can cause within a community, and how to behave responsibly as a temporary visitor.

If nevertheless you decide to visit the “verboten” protected core area on your own there is an old cobblestoned path that traverses the forest. The forest is no longer being managed; hence it looks “unclean” to the modern eye, with tons of wood and trees lying crisscross on the ground (some of it seems almost having been put there on purpose to block visitors from entering). This is especially true for the trails inside the core forest, hence hiking becomes tricky at times, and more time needs to be planned. The forest itself is – well, it’s a beech forest, with wonderful old, high trees (the same trees, pretty much, that can be seen from the official trails around the protected area). The canopy is quite thick, and as no wood is being chopped any more, little light reaches the forest grounds, with little in the way of undergrowth, bushes, flowers, or the like – hence, no need to bring a machete into the forest.

Grumsin forest lies in an area formed by ancient glaciers, hence it is a bit hilly, but there are no cliffs or rocky areas, really, so totally safe for hiking. Internet reception can be a bit spotty at times, hence probably a good idea to download an offline map.

As can be seen by looking at a map, the wider area is covered with gazillions of larger and smaller lakes and ponds, again, a result of glacial activities. I was constantly being followed by an amazing number of mosquitos, so next time I would bring gloves to cover my hands, as they were quite swollen up after my trip due to many mosquito bites.

It goes without saying that you should not leave any trash in the forest and stay on the marked paths. Weekends are probably very crowded and best to be avoided. I visited on a weekday, leaving Berlin with the first train in the morning, to be able to start my hiking at 7 am, which is a good time to spot animals and enjoy the scenery, with nobody else around so early. I was back in Berlin for lunch.

Getting There

Please do not arrive by car. There are a few car parks around the forest, but apparently not nearly enough, causing significant trouble with “wild parking” and all the issues that causes to the local small communities.

There is a “tourist bus” (#497) to the Grumsin forest area from Angermünde, the nearest train hub and a nice little town on its own. It has a big UNESCO logo plastered on it. There is another local bus (#452) going a bit further, all the way to Grumsin proper. At 6:30am, there were only two passengers on that bus. There are other buses on the other side of the forest running to and from the Ziethen area. Most of these buses run on weekdays only, tied, apparently, to the local school schedules, with big gaps in between. However, it can all be done quite easily with a bit of pre-planning in order to avoid having to wait for hours for a connecting bus returning you back to civilization.