The Flint Route

Flints are boulders. You will often encounter them along the route. Men have made megalithic tombs; the little ones have been used for the construction of paths and roads. Within a radius of 1 km along the route you will find no fewer than 18 dolmens. The route therefore starts at't Flint\\\'nhoes (= Hunebedcentrum).

Hunebed Center in Borger
Borger is the'Hunebed capital\\\' of the Netherlands. In the Hunebed Center you will find information about the hunebedden and about the Funnel Beaker culture. It paints a picture of how the dolmens came about and it shows how the daily life of the dolmen builders took place. You will also see an overview of other archaeological monuments, such as burial mounds, urnfields, Celtic Fields (field complexes) and old cart tracks. Next to the Hunebed Center is the largest hunebed in the Netherlands.

Dolmens Bronneger
Halfway between Borger and Drouwen, 5 dolmens lie together near the town of Bronneger. One of the dolmens (the westernmost one) is probably the most photographed because an oak tree has nestled in the dolmen.

Boswachterij Exloo
Many traces of the past can still be found in the rolling landscape of the Exloo forestry. There is a dolmen in the middle of the forest and burial mounds are everywhere. And just like that, at a fork, there is a thick stone next to a thick oak tree. This is a so-called mark stone, which used to mark the border between the marks of Odoorn, Exloo and Buinen. Deeper in the forest we find several deep round craters; the so-called pingo ruins. These date from the Ice Age.

Pool height and Ipsewips
In the Odoorn forestry, a large part of the forest was blown over during the storm of 1972. One half has been replanted and the other half has remained an open plain grazed by sheep. In the forestry is a 15 meter high hill with a watchtower and tea house. The hill is called Polish Height. The hill was initially raised with a shovel and wheelbarrow during the relief work in 1934. Because of the blood blisters on the hands, the hill was nicknamed the Blood Mountain.
For the little ones among us, the forest around Pools Hoogte seems'bewitched\\\'. A children's walking route about the witch Ipsewips starts from the tea house.

Odorn
Odoorn is first mentioned in 1327 and originated along one of the old connecting roads from Coevorden to Groningen. The 12th century choir of the reformed church is covered with boulders to a height of about 3 meters and the wall is more than 1 meter thick. The rest of the church dates from 1856.
Today, Odoorn has become known for the Drentse Wandel4Daagse around Ascension Day and the largest International Folklore Spectacle in the Netherlands with dance, song, music and traditional costumes.

Eppiesberg
Along the road from Odoorn to Valthe on the left is a striking burial mound named after a certain Egbert. He is said to have taken his own life on this burial mound by hanging. His pet name `Eppie\\\' remained linked to the burial mound.

Valthe
Valthe is first mentioned in 1217. However, the region has been inhabited since ancient times. In the vicinity of Valthe are several dolmens and burial mounds. In the center and on the outskirts of the village there are still old farms. To the east of the village, the Valterschans was built in 1621 to defend Valtherdijk (the road to the monastery of Ter Apel).

Mythical city of Hunsow
In 1660 according to J. Picardt (1600-1670), pastor, doctor and historian in Coevorden, the streets of Coevorden would have been paved with stones from the ruins of the rich, highly civilized city of Hunsow. He conducted an investigation himself and found a street pattern of stones. This legendary city located between Borger and Valthe is said to have been destroyed by the Normans in 808.

Exloo
Exloo is first mentioned in 1376. Exloo is a typical Drenthe esdorp. Apart from a small piece of new construction, it is a collection of farms, arranged loosely along the streets. A church is missing; the Exlooans worshiped in Odoorn. In the Bebingehoes (from 1722) is a museum about old Drenthe crafts. Opposite is a sheepfold with information center. A flock of sheep departs from this sheepfold to the nearby Molenveld; a beautiful heathland with juniper shrubs. Exloo is also known for the International Festival of Old Crafts.