Dwingelderveld (84 km)
(84 km)
During deroute Dwingelderveld, you will pass the nature reserves of National-Park Drents Friese Wold, the Canada Lake and National Park Dwingelderveld. The perfect route for nature lovers.
Parking
You can park at the visitor centre Grenzeloos Doldersum Boijlerstraat 12 8386XE Doldersum. Inside the visitor centre you will find more information about the surrounding area.
Signposting
The route is not signposted. You can download it via the 'Download' button at the top. Note: the route is therefore not very detailed.
Food & drink
Would you like to have something to eat or drink during this cycle tour? You can do so at various catering establishments in Zorgvlied, Terwisscha, Diever, Ruinen and Doldersum.
You are going to see this
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Visitor centre | Boundless Doldersum
Visitor centre | Boundless Doldersum
Boundless is located in a unique piece of culture/nature. Before you start your walk or bike ride, it is highly recommended to come and have a look at our visitor centre. From...
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Zorgvlied
Zorgvlied
Zorgvlied is a village in the municipality of Westerveld and belonged to Diever until 1998. It lies northwest of Diever and northeast of Vledder. In a worse sense, northwest of Wateren and north of Doldersum, against the Drents-Friesian border.
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Nature lake Canada Lake
Nature lake Canada Lake
Lake Canada (Aekingermeer) is located in the beautiful Drents-Friese Wold National Park between Appelscha and Wateren. The swimming lake has a wide sandy beach averaging 10 metres. There is a kiosk...
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Old William
Old William
Oude Willem is a hamlet in the municipalities of Westerveld and Ooststellingwerf, in the Dutch provinces of Drenthe and Friesland. Located between Diever and Appelscha, the place is named after the reclamation company "Het Oude Willemsveld".
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Diever
Diever
Diever, on the edge of the Drents-Friese Wold, is known as Shakespeare's village. The esdorp, located in western Drenthe northwest of Dwingeloo, has about 2,650 inhabitants.
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Sheepfold Ruinen
Sheepfold Ruinen
The Schaapskudde Ruinen, is one of two flocks grazing on the Dwingelerveld National Park and consists of about 300 Drentse heath sheep. The site of the flock consists of a sch...
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Wapse
Wapse
Wapse is an esdorp in the municipality of Westerveld in the Dutch province of Drenthe. In 2021, the village had 655 inhabitants. Wapse lies about 21 kilometres northwest of Hoogeveen, between Vledder and Diever, on the edge of the Drents Friese-Wold park.
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End point Visitor Centre Boundless Doldersum
End point Visitor Centre Boundless Doldersum
We hope you enjoyed the surroundings, come and enjoy a snack or drink in the restaurant at Boundless. Current opening hours can be found on the site of grenzeloos-drenthe.nl (at the bottom of each page).
Description
Visitor centre | Boundless Doldersum
Boundless is located in a unique piece of culture/nature. Before you start your walk or bike ride, it is highly recommended to come and have a look at our visitor centre. From...
The starting point is in the village of Doldersum. Doldersum is an esdorp in the municipality of Westerveld, in the province of Drenthe. The village has about 120 inhabitants. Doldersum is located northwest of Dwingeloo and northeast of Vledder. Doldersum borders the Drents-Friese Wold National Park. The Vledder Aa, the stream near Doldersum and the Doldersummerveld, a heathland area managed by the foundation Het Drentse Landschap, are part of that park. The upper reaches of the Vledder Aa were rearranged in 2002 and 2003. The stream, which had been canalised in the early 1960s, has regained its former course. The rich topsoil has been ploughed off. Now nature should develop again in the area between Doldersum and Wateren.
The 2nd village we pass through is Zorgvlied. Zorgvlied is a village in the municipality of Westerveld and belonged to Diever until 1998. It lies northwest of Diever and northeast of Vledder. Closer to the northwest of Wateren and north of Doldersum, against the Drents-Friesian border. The place takes its name from the vanished Huize Zorgvlied property. Zorgvlied lies in the working area of the Maatschappij van Weldadigheid, founded in 1818. Also in that year, the organisation's Agricultural Institute was built here. Here, civil servants were trained for managerial positions within the Maatschappij to transform the poor from the towns in the colonies into small farmers. in 1859, the school was dissolved and sold to De Ruyter de Wildt, a descendant of Michiel Adriaanszoon de Ruyter. The building later came into use as a guest house. After a thorough renovation in 1978, it now consists of four homes for the elderly, next to the current Catholic church. Today, Zorgvlied is mainly a recreational village, with a few campsites in the area.
Next, we arrive at the Canada Lake. The Canada Lake (Aekingermeer) is located in the beautiful National Park Drents-Friese Wold between Appelscha and Wateren, in a wooded area. The lake is quite deep, about 4 metres in the middle. There is no floatation line, but children can play in the water close to the edge. It has a wide sandy beach averaging 10 metres. There is a kiosk within walking distance, but no toilets and showers are available. The area around the swimming beach is mainly used as a nature and recreation area. There are two camping sites about 150 metres away. Between 1 May and 1 October, dogs are not allowed at the playpond.
This route also takes you past the canada lake. Staatsbosbeheer's play ponds are hidden in the green, in the middle of nature reserves. Some ponds were created naturally, others by sand extraction. As a result, the depth differs from pond to pond. In any case, it is pure nature everywhere and the water quality is good. It is a very deep and very clean swimming lake.
This cycle route also passes through the village of Oude Willem. Oude Willem is a hamlet in the municipalities of Westerveld and Ooststellingwerf, in the Dutch provinces of Drenthe and Friesland. It is located between Diever and Appelscha. The place is named after the reclamation company "Het Oude Willemsveld", which reclaimed the area in the first half of the 20th century. The name Oude Willem is said to come from a shepherd named Oude Willem, who is said to have grazed his sheep in the area in the 19th century.
Oude Willem is located in the middle of the Drents-Friese Wold National Park. It has an agricultural function and a tourist function. In the future, it will have to make way for new nature. This is also to restore the original water supply of Vledder Aa.
In the woods near Oude Willem is a memorial to the crew of a Canadian plane, which crashed at that spot on 22 November 1943. The plane was part of a group of 776 bombers, 764 of which targeted Berlin and 12 Leverkussen.
We arrive in the village of Diever. At the edge of the Drents-Friese Wold lies Diever. This ash tree village is known as Shakespeare's village. Diever is located in the west of Drenthe, northwest of Dwingeloo. About 2,650 people lived in Diever and its immediate surroundings in 2019. The village was founded in the early Middle Ages. However, the area has been inhabited for much longer; you can see that from Hunebed D52. It was built by the Funnel Beaker people more than 5,000 years ago.
Diever is also an attraction for nature lovers. The Drents-Friese Wold is a National Park for a reason: with its 6,000 hectares, it is the second largest continuous forest and heath area in the Netherlands after the Veluwe. Here you can relax and enjoy endless cycling, hiking, mountain biking or horse riding. Diever is a good starting point for exploring the Drents-Friese Wold.
We also cycle across the Dwingelderveld. South-west Drenthe is home to a special nature reserve: National Park Dwingelderveld. The National Park is the largest interconnected wet heathland area in Western Europe. No fewer than two flocks of sheep with shepherds keep the heathland in shape. In this National Park, you can still enjoy an endless, undisturbed horizon...
We also pass by the Schaapskooi Ruinen. The Schaapskudde Ruinen consists of about 300 Drentse heath sheep that graze in National Park Dwingelderveld. The site of the sheepfold consists of a sheepfold with hay shed at number 38 and a manager's house at number 36, the sheepfold is on the same spot as the watchtower on the Benders. The sheepfold and the caretaker's house were built in 1949 on behalf of the Nature Conservancy Meppel and Surroundings.
Every day, in both summer and winter, sheep graze the heathland. The sheep leave at 09.30 and return at 16.00 in winter. In summer, they stay on the moors an hour longer. They then return at 5pm. Visitors are welcome every day to watch the departure or arrival of the sheep.
As the last village, we pass through Wapse. Wapse is an esdorp in the municipality of Westerveld in the Dutch province of Drenthe. In 2021, the village had 655 inhabitants. Wapse lies about 21 kilometres northwest of Hoogeveen, between Vledder and Diever, on the edge of the Drents Friese-Wold National Park. The village was part of the municipality of Diever until 1998. The hamlet of Veldhuizen falls under Wapse. At the end of the 14th century there was talk of Johannem (also Johanni and Johanne) de/of Wapse. Wapse was also mentioned in 1447. The meaning of the name is unknown. From Wapse the ribbon village Wapserveen arose during medieval reclamation, mentioned as Wasperveen in the late 14th century.
The origin of Wapse's coat of arms is that the colours red black and white represent the colours from the flag of the province of Drenthe. The ring stands for the village itself, as it is a so-called kring-es village. The four-pointed star stands for the four points of the compass and the four seasons. Moreover, the points stand for the four parts of the village, Soerte, Ten Have, Veenhuizen and Veldhuizen. The remaining symbols indicate the agricultural character of the village. The urn in the centre of the coat of arms represents the very long habitation of the area, which archaeological excavations have shown.
Afterwards, we return to Grenzeloos and you can take another look at the visitor centre Grenzeloos Doldersum for even more information.
End point Visitor Centre Boundless Doldersum
We hope you enjoyed the surroundings, come and enjoy a snack or drink in the restaurant at Boundless. Current opening hours can be found on the site of grenzeloos-drenthe.nl (at the bottom of each page).