Lauenburg Lakes Nature Park

It is right on the border with the state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern in the Schleswig-Holstein Uplands, a Young Drift moraine landscape that formed during the Weichselian glaciation of the last ice age.

With an area of over 470 km2 (180 sq mi), the nature park is the third largest in Schleswig-Holstein and contains extensive stretches of forest.

Within the nature park are the district towns of Ratzeburg and Mölln as well as the Hellbach Valley.

The Old Salt Road from Lüneburg to Lübeck runs through the nature park – at several places, such as Fredeburg, still as a medieval route - the Alte Salzstraße.

The nature park is roughly bordered to the west between Berkenthin and Büchen by the Elbe-Lübeck Canal.