Near Ottingen the Warnau is also called the Schneebach, which comes from the fact that the stream once formed the border (Low German: Sneede) between the Bishopric of Verden and the Duchy of Lüneburg, now the district boundary between Heidekreis and Rotenburg.

Between Cordingen and Benefeld it forms a charming, narrow, wooded valley with a restored mill, the Cordinger Mühle, that hosts events.

Downstream to its mouth the meadow valley is accompanied on one side by a picturesque bluff with narrow footpath.

At its southern end the path meets the Bomlitz Archaeological Trail (Archäologischen Wanderpfad Bomlitz), which runs through a Bronze Age burial site on a rounded hilltop in the recreation area of Eibia-Lohheide and continues south to the street Vogelparkstraße to the impressive system of ramparts belonging to the Old Saxon fort of Hünenburg at the confluence of the Warnau and the Böhme.

The site is linked by legend to the founding of the oldest Lüneburg Heath's monasteries, the nearby Walsrode Abbey.