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The Loosdrechtse Plassen form the central part of the Oostelijke Vechtplassen. This Natura 2000 area is a special protection zone for birds, but also for plants and other animals. The lakes were created because ditches and ponds were dug in the original wet peat to drain the area. The peat that emerged was used as pastureland or for peat extraction. However, the land between the ditches has been excavated or washed away by the water over the centuries, so that the puddles gradually became larger. It is now a popular recreational area with a rich flora and fauna. On the other side you cycle south along the winding banks of the Vecht with its stately country houses. As early as 1673, there was a fortification on the site of the current Fort Nieuwersluis. In the 19th century, a tower fort was built and earthen walls, gun emplacements, a bomb-proof barracks and three depots were added. The fort became part of the New Dutch Waterline. You will now find special plants and animals there. There grow bird's milk, crow's eye and common knapweed and many hawthorn bushes that were once planted to act as barbed wire. Bats such as the rare bearded bat hibernate in the tower fort. Gunterstein Castle is the third castle to have been built on this site. The first was built around 1300 and eventually demolished. The second was built here in 1518, but was burned down by the French Troops in 1673. In 1680, the stately house that still stands today was built here: a square brick building surrounded by a moat. Fort Tienhoven was part of the New Dutch Waterline. Completed in 1850, it consisted of a defensible guardhouse measuring 15 by 15 meters. The fort had to close the Tienhovense Vaart and guard the flood quay and locks. The fort is now owned by Staatsbosbeheer and it is not accessible. You cycle past Sypesteyn Castle Museum. A house is said to have been built here in 1288, but the oldest foundations found date from 1500. The layout of the current castle is still largely as it was in the 1930s. There is a medieval armory, a Gothic room and a 17th century hall. The visitor can view collections of Oriental and Dutch porcelain. The leafy garden consists of a castle garden, a maze and an orchard, separated by hedges, moats and ornamental wrought iron fences.