Zuiderzee Route Nijkerk-Putten

On the Veluwe, nature and culture go hand in hand. On the north side of the Veluwe, the former Zuiderzee was friend and enemy of the residents in this area. Fishing revenues were accompanied by losses from flooding. This route shows you how the past lives on in the present. From the Arkemheen visitor center the route goes along the Zuiderzee to junction 52 towards Putten. Some prehistoric burial mounds can be visited along the way. Towards beach Nulde you cycle past the Putter Stoomgemaal. This steam pumping station, together with the Hertog Reijnhout steam pumping station, has maintained the water level in the Arkemheen polder for many years. Further on you will pass Vanenburg Castle. The twentieth century was extremely eventful for Vanenburg. After the death of the childless Anna Frederika in 1917, her cousin Hugo'Joep\\\' Baron van Pallandt squandered the entire inheritance and the Vanenburg was auctioned off in 1931. The house has not been privately occupied since then. The castle was used as a holiday colony, as a prison camp for Jews during the occupation, and as a government training school for the Protection of Civilian Population. Due to decay and modernization, the complex was even in danger of being lost. In 1996, the Vanenburg Group moved into the building and restored the castle to its original state. Nowadays the estate is used as conference, meeting and hotel accommodation. At junction 30 you can shorten the route to 37km. Cycle to junction 20, in the center of Putten. See further from junction 20. Near junction 79 is the Ermelosche Heide Visitor Center. From this sheepfold you can visit a Roman Marching camp, a wall that served to protect a Roman camp with 4,000 soldiers around 170/180 AD. Then you cycle through the Speulder and Sprielderbos, one of the oldest forests in the Netherlands. Between junctions 81 and 56 you pass Schovenhorst Estate. Take a look at the tree garden and the museum'De Tien Malen\\\'. In the middle of Putten we find the windmill't Hert. The windmill't Hert recalls the time when the cornfields determined the image of the Ptereng. The mill used to stand at the entrance to the village like a sentinel, waiting for the moment when the grain could be threshed. The mill was part of the Puttereng and was the final part of an annual process of sowing, mowing, harvesting and threshing. The last part of the route goes through Nijkerk. This city emerged from a living community that built the new church, roads and houses and received city rights in 1413. A protective dike was built between the Zuiderzee and the Arkemheen polder. The Arkervaart connected the town with the Zuiderzee © This cycle route is offered to you by the Veluws Bureau voor Toerisme/VVV Putten. For more information about this region, visit www.develuwe.nl