Rug van Zuidwolde and Reestdal

The Landscape

The Rug of Zuidwolde is a hillridge that originated in the penultimate ice age. The advancing ice has shaped a beautiful landscape in the vicinity of the medieval village Zuidwolde. This natural beauty extends to the stream valley Reestdal, which is situated along the same ridge. The ancient Reestdal is positioned on the border of the provinces of Drenthe and Overijssel and was once a vast and nearly inaccessible area featuring occasional swamp forests. It represents a beautiful and enigmatic piece of nature where, throughout the Middle Ages, farmers and monks transformed sections of land into fields or meadows.

The lowland stream Reest winds its way through a region in which flowery meadows, old hedgerows, heathland, and forest alternate harmoniously. Meadows adorned with marsh marigolds, cornflowers, chamomile, and poppies accompany the slow-flowing stream over a length of 37 km. The whimsical landscape still harbors numerous hidden places that served as the source of many myths and legends. The coppice groves, hedgerows, grain fields, and ancient church paths in the stream valley are still managed today as they have been for centuries by the farmers. The Reest is therefore one of the few streams in the Netherlands that still largely meanders through the landscape in its original form.

Bike with us

Route map

Start and finish near bike node 74 at the Leeuwenveenseweg in Veeningen. However, this bike route is a circular tour, so it offers the possibility to start from any of the following bike nodes.

74 - 72 - 61 - 76 - 80 - 89 - 86 - 87 - 88 - 35 - 37 - 99 - 90 - 17 - 27 - 65 - 64 - 62 - 73 - 74