A walk around the Rottige Meente

This route takes you through the Weerribben and along the Rottige Meente. Apart from the fact that these two nature reserves were created by peat extraction, they share another important characteristic: it is wonderfully quiet there.

Rotten Community
You cycle for a while along the Linde, a small river that forms the border between Overijssel and Friesland in this section. On your right is De Rottige Meente, a nature reserve where you see a mosaic of water and land, reeds and flowering grasslands. Otters live in this area that have come swimming from the nearby Weerribben. At the intersection of the Grindweg and Pieter Stuyvesantweg you pass the monument for Stuyvesant, the minister's son who grew up in Scherpenzeel.

Sailing villages
The Weerribben is one of the most beautiful nature reserves in the Netherlands. And one of the quietest. In this swampy marsh area you drive past endless reed fields, swamp forests and waterways. You also pass through characteristic waterway villages such as Nederland, Wetering and Ossenzijl where the thatched farms often have black wooden walls. The route ends at Restaurant Ant Waeter where you can eat wonderfully quietly on the terrace by the water.

Historic buildings and mills
There are two striking monumental mills on the Rottige Meente. De Reiger is a former polder mill from 1871. Nowadays the mill has a residential function. De Rietvink dates from 1855 and is a working polder mill. On the Hoogeweg are De Wicher, a spider mill from 1982, and the Tjasker Kalenberg from 1963 and the Tjasker Ossenzijl from 1977. You can also see a peat cutter's house and several nineteenth-century farm workers' houses on this road. Small farmers once lived here who earned money in the winter by cutting reed or digging peat. Would you also like to explore the Weerribben on foot? Then walk route 343920.