The Flinten Route

Flints are boulders. You will often encounter these along the route. People have turned the largest dolmens into dolmens; the small 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 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 dolmens and the Funnel Beaker culture. A picture is sketched of how the dolmens were constructed and it shows how the daily lives of the dolmen builders unfolded. You will also see an overview of other archaeological monuments, such as burial mounds, urn fields, Celtic Fields (field complexes) and old cart tracks. Next to the Hunebed Center is the largest dolmen in the Netherlands.

Dolmens Bronneger
Halfway between Borger and Drouwen, 5 dolmens are located 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.

Forestry 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 junction, there is a thick stone next to a thick oak tree. This is a so-called markstone, 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.

Polish 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 area there is a 15 meter high hill with a lookout tower and tea house. The hill is called Polish Heights. The hill was initially raised with a shovel and wheelbarrow during the work relief 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 Polish Heights seems 'witched'. A children's walking route about the witch Ipsewips starts from the tea house.

Othorn
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 up to a height of approximately 3 meters and the wall is more than 1 meter thick. The rest of the church dates from 1856.
Nowadays, Odoorn has become known for the Drenthe Walking Day around Ascension Day and the largest International Folklore Spectacle in the Netherlands with dance, singing, music and traditional costumes.

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

Valthe
Valthe was first mentioned in 1217. However, the region was already inhabited in ancient times. There are several dolmens and burial mounds in the vicinity of Valthe. In the center and on the edge 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 were paved with stones from the ruins of the rich, highly civilized city of Hunsow. He conducted his own investigation 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 was first mentioned in 1376. Exloo is a typical Drenthe esdorp. Except for a small piece of new construction, it is a collection of farms, arranged loosely along the streets. A church is missing; the Exloo people worshiped in Odoorn. The Bebingehoes (from 1722) houses a museum about old Drenthe crafts. Opposite it is a sheepfold with an information center. From this sheepfold a flock of sheep leaves for the nearby Molenveld; a beautiful heathland area with juniper thickets. Exloo is also known for the International Festival of Old Crafts.