Veenland and Bargerveen
Cycling in a rugged nature in the largest contiguous raised bog landscape in the Netherlands.
The Landscape
After the last ice age, the climate warmed up and the air became more humid. In the stagnant water of the stream valleys in what is now the northeast of the Netherlands, peat moss began to grow, which developed into a huge swamp area that stretched from the Hunze to the Ems. In the Middle Ages, the Boertanger swamp covered an area of around 300,000 hectares and the peat moss grew into a package 12 meters thick. Over the centuries, the swamp was dug up for peat extraction and to make space for agriculture and forestry. The Bargerveen is the only large, living part of the Bourtanger Swamp that has survived. It is a nature reserve of over 2,000 hectares with one of the last living raised bogs. Here, peat hills, peat moss, swamps, swamp forests and lakes are still very beautiful alternations in a deserted landscape.
Forests and Heaths
Estates and Heritage
Polders and Farmlands
Swamps and Peatlands
Bike with us
Route map
Start and finish near bike node 33 on the Ambachtsweg in Weiteveen. However, this bike route is a circular tour, so it offers the possibility to start from any of the following bike nodes.
33 - 61 - 98 - 63 - 85 - 67 - 64 - 94 - 93 - 95 - 65 - 1 - 53 - 51 - 50 - 56 - 75 - 73 - 72 - 99 - 60 - 59 - 32 - 33
