Hunze Route

Hunze or Oostermoerse vaart , the river Hunze originates as Achterste Diep in the Exloosche Landen and the Exloosche Monden and as Voorste Diep, finding its way near Borger through the Hondsrug, in the Eeservenen. The Hunze is located in the valley between the Hondsrug on the west side and a low sand ridge on the east side. This low sand ridge ensured that the former Bourtangermoor did not extend to the Hondsrug. The Hunze flows into the Zuilaardermeer and then goes as Drentsche Diep to the Winschoter Diep. The Hunze Valley originated in the Ice Age. In the mid-18th century, the Hunze became important for peat shipping. The Hunze was navigable up to Gasselternijveen. In the 1960s, the Hunze was canalized to regulate drainage for agriculture. Because the Hunze is largely fed with seepage water, the regulation did not appear to work properly. Large parts of the catchment area, spread over various locations such as the Elzenmaat, are being returned to nature by excavating old meanders.

Semslinie
The word Semslinie initially brings to mind a defense structure from earlier times. It is old, but it has nothing to do with defense. The conflicts between Drenthe and Groningen landowners reached a peak in 1614. According to the people of Drenthe, the monastery in Ter Apel belonged to Drenthe, but according to the people of Groningen, it belonged to Groningen. To resolve the conflict, a Frisian surveyor, Johan Sems, was hired to determine a border. He drew the border in a more or less straight line between Huis Ter Haar (north of Ter Apel) and the Martinitoren in Groningen. This did not resolve the conflicts; the people of Groningen did not want to hand over the monastery to the Drenthe. With the arrival of the Stadskanaal, the definitive border was determined, with the monastery remaining Groningen. A small part of the Sems Line is recognized as a provincial border.
  
Museum railway STAR
The Museum Railway STAR is the longest museum railway in the Netherlands. The line has been running from Veendam to Musselkanaal since 1995. The Museum Railway runs partly over the Semslinie. The Noordoosterlokaalspoorweg-Maatschappij (NOLS) constructed the Assen-Gieten-Stadskanaal section (now a walking path) in 1905 and the Veendam-Stadskanaal section in 1910. The original STAR (Groningsch-Drentsche Spoorwegmaatschappij Stadskanaal-ter Apel-Rijksgrens) built the Stadskanaal-Musselkanaal section in 1924.

Gasselternijveen
Although the name Gasselternijveen only appeared on maps in French times, Gasselternijveen is considered the oldest peat colony in the Hunze area. In the 17th century, the Hunze was navigable and the Stadskanaal did not yet exist. So-called mouths were dug from Gasselternijveen and from these mouths canals and neighborhoods were dug through the peat. In 1667 the States General decided that the Hunze would be given free passage. The result was that Gasselternijveen developed into a skipper's village. These skippers transported peat to Groningen and later also to the rest of the Netherlands. Ultimately, it turned out that they also sailed to Scandinavian countries and England with coasters. Because they continued to live in Gasselternijveen, the village flourished between 1840 and 1930. In 1913, Gasselternijveen was the fourth seaport in the Netherlands in terms of number of ships, after Rotterdam, Amsterdam and Groningen. After 1930, shipping declined.

Gieten-Borger forestry
The trees in the forestry were planted last century for wood extraction. Beautiful fens and heathlands are hidden between the trees. Various roads are paved with Drenthe cobblestones. These emerged during mining. On the west side, the river valley of the Anderesche lies deep with beautiful grasslands and old hedgerows. There are 2 kingdoms in the forest.'t Olde Hemelriek is a beautiful natural fen and't Nije Hemelriek, an excavated recreational lake with a stand.

To pour
Gieten was first mentioned in 1221, but must be much older given the burial mounds in the Zwanemeerbos located north of Gieten. The current Braams hotel was built in 1617 as an inn along the medieval Groningen-Coevorden route. Part of this can be seen as a dirt road through the Zwanemeerbos.