Boijl, Wolvega and Noordwolde

East of Wolvega you can enjoy fantastic cycling through the Lendevallei. The Elzenbroek forests have made the once open area fairly dense. They grow well because a large part of the peat holes became landless and because the swampy area became increasingly drier. The peat ponds in the peat holes that remained, still provide beautiful peat moss reed lands and ferns that attract dragonflies. You will also find sundew, patches of blue grassland and more special species, such as star sedge and Spanish horsetail. Cycling along the flowery meadows you will find oak groves, tree banks and canals, remnants of heathlands and pieces of land on which vegetables are grown. Because of this variation, birds also find their way to the Lendevallei. Meadow birds such as the lapwing and the curlew, but also the black tern and the bluethroat, which are attracted to the swampy area, and also water birds such as the gadwall and the grebe like to float on the ponds in the Lendevallei. And with all this diversity, the forest birds cannot be left behind: hawks hunt their prey while the great spotted woodpecker drums on the trees. The lucky cyclist will catch a glimpse of the Corncrake, Porcelain Grouse and Red-backed Shrike, which are very rare in this area. After cycling almost 54 kilometers you will come across the Windlust mill in Noordwolde. The octagonal tower mill was built in 1859 and did not receive its tower until 1880. It was a flour mill that ground using wind power. The Windlust had been powered by a diesel engine since 1921, but lost its grinding function at the beginning of the 1950s. Even after a restoration in 1961, the mill operated very little. Since 1976, volunteer millers have been operating the mill almost every Saturday to prevent decay.