After the last Ice Age, the climate became warmer and wetter. In the stream valleys of Drenthe, broad marshy zones developed where sphagnum moss grew layer upon layer, shaping a landscape that can still be recognized today around Klazienaveen, Zwartemeer, and Emmen. This process gave rise to an extensive raised bog landscape that once stretched from the Hunze to the Ems. Peat extraction, land reclamation, and later agriculture and forestry transformed the area profoundly, yet the main outlines of this peatland story remain clearly visible in the landscape.

The Bargerveen is the last large, still-living remnant of the original Bourtange Moor in the Netherlands. This nature reserve covers more than 2,000 hectares and is one of the few places where active raised bog can still grow and gradually recover. The cycling route takes you past peat hummocks and vast fields of sphagnum moss, as well as wet marshes, carr woodlands, and small pools that lie like mirrors in the greenery. Here and there, reed beds and narrow waterways cut through the peatland, giving the area a rugged, water-rich character. As a result, the landscape here feels different from elsewhere in Drenthe, with an open horizon, wide skies, and a silence that almost naturally makes you slow down as you cycle.