The most beautiful walking route in the Benelux of 2023 has a Drenthe touch. Or just say tint. Because it is a stage of more than 25 kilometers with many Drenthe influences. Straight across the Fochteloërveen, as part of the 260 kilometer long Stellingenpad. Only opened last year, but already won prizes.
The inventor of the path – Marian Nesse – did not experience its opening anymore. She died just before. But her partner Marita Kruijswijk proudly shows Nesse’s legacy.
It is rainy and cold when we arrive at a parking lot along the Kolonievaart, near Veenhuizen. Not exactly walking weather you would say. Until Eveline van der Veer and Marita Kruijswijk round the corner and take us in tow. You forget the cold and enjoy the natural beauty of Drenthe.
“Every season is different here. That makes it interesting to walk here”, Kruijswijk smiles. Together with Van der Veer she shows a nice point of the route. Van der Veer is the manager of this stage of the Stellingenpad. “Look, there is a pingo lake. Very specific for this area, the largest in Drenthe with a diameter of about five hundred meters.”
“If you come here on quiet days, there are many birds. That’s what I watch the most,” says Van der Veer while walking. “Then I see bluethroats, but also cranes. They walk and forage here. By walking here you also learn to look closely.”
Kruijswijk also praises the diversity of the area, which she believes serves as a model for the entire Stellingenpad. “In those stages you walk along forests and lakes, but also nature reserves such as the Weerribben and the Drents-Friese Wold. And then you also have the beautiful villages.”
Watch the report on the most beautiful walking route of 2023 (story continues below the video):