‘Elephant paths? What are they?’, you might ask. Elephant paths are unofficial cycling or walking paths that we have all created because we want to cut off the road. You regularly encounter them in Zoetermeer, mainly around central places such as a bus stop, in a park or at a shopping center.
An elephant path is sometimes also called a shortcut. People cut off the road to get to the next path or to their destination faster. Sometimes you see the paths through a hedge because pedestrians do not want to walk from the sidewalk across the road. Most elephant paths usually arise in a piece of greenery and over time the municipality can choose to turn it into a paved path by, for example, throwing wood chips on it.
But what does an elephant have to do with this?
Elephant paths are named after the typical characteristic of elephants to always choose the shortest path, creating a visible path in the vegetation. Because we Zoetermeers do exactly the same, similar paths arise everywhere we go.
Even more elephant paths
Do you want to see a lot of elephant paths in the Netherlands? Take a look at the photo book by photographer Jan-Dirk van der Burg and biologist Maarten ‘t Hart.
Zoetermeer elephant paths
Of course we went on an (elephant) path to map the elephant paths in Zoetermeer. If you come across a good one or have built an elephant path yourself, please let us know. Enjoy watching.