Haarmühle - Witteveen walk 4.5 km 1:07 hrs

Starting point parking lot at the Haarmühle.
Walk towards the water mill. This building is already an almost 400 year old mill with an undershot wheel. At that time, this area was ruled by the bishop of Münster, Bernard van Galen. This bishop was a formidable general in the Thirty Years' War. A time when Catholic and reformed countries fought each other because of the reforms in the Christian faith that had arisen at the time. The bishop enjoyed several vessels: the wine, the spice, and the incense. He was nicknamed Bombardier. He was an avid user of guns.
Follow the road over the bridge over the Buurserbeek and follow this road, which bends to the left via the parallel footpath.
When this road makes a sharp turn to the right, turn left. You then cross the Dutch-German border here.
Immediately take the first path on the right. This path is the old commies path. Kommies were toll officials. In this case also a form of customs. They tried to catch smugglers along this path.
This border path curves to the west and takes you through an area of heathland.
At the end of the path turn right. This is an oak avenue planted by a textile manufacturer Van Heek. On the left side of the path are some dead trees. They died because the water level here is kept artificially high. They want to retain rainwater for longer to promote the growth of raised bogs. In addition, an attempt has been made to create a biotope for the tree frog on the left. They have dug a pool that slopes very slowly to create banks, which the tree frog prefers during the breeding season. There must also be a lot of light. Roses are also needed. So one sees blackberries and dog rose here. But the area has not turned out as it was hoped. There are tree frogs in the area, but not in numbers that people expected. The dead trees are not uprooted because the bats use them for orientation.
At the end, take the leftmost road. This leads through and along an avenue of trees. Along this path you can see a lot of the Scottish highlander herd. These graze the area. In recent years there have been almost no calves. Will it be a retirement home?
Exit the cattle area through the gate, but before turning left, a visit to the bird hide on the right is worthwhile. You look out over one from which quite a few birds can be seen, such as the little grebe (a grebe-like bird). Binoculars are very helpful.
Continue the walk (see point 8) and then take the first path on the left.
Turn left on the paved road, this is the Markslagweg. Named after the farm of Natuurmonumenten, where you can spend the night. The clerks used to have a room here to spend the night. The farm was also owned by Van Heek at first. He used the area as a hunting ground. He had a pheasantry on the right of this road. He bred pheasants there to hunt. He used the coniferous forests as production forest.
After the Marslag take the first path on the right. This initially runs through the forest, but ends up on a moorland. To the right in front of you you will see a higher hill with lime trees on it. These can be recognized by the many shoots that grow at the bottom of the trunk. In between, Van Heek had planned a spa for sick employees. This has not been realized. If you walk left along this elevation, you will see a new bridge over the Buurserbeek. In this stream there are interesting inhabitants such as crayfish and bitterling roach. This fish needs the swan mussel and the painter's mussel for reproduction. The female puts the ovipositor in the always slightly gaping shell, which then serves as a nursery for the young fish.
Back on the path, following the route to the left, just past the first bend you will see an elevation with an old meander of the same stream behind it. Behind this first hill you can see the remains of an old bridge, which was then intended as a footbridge for future patients.
At the next three-prong you can either turn left back via the Kommiezenpad or right via another route back to the Haarmühle. Turn right is shorter and has a nice return to the crossing near the watermill.