Reestdalroute (short version of cycle route: 199370) - route.nl

The strongly meandering river Reest winds like a border between Drenthe and Overijssel and runs from Dedemsvaart to Meppel. The Reest has a drop of only 5 meters over a distance of more than 30 kilometers and the width of the Reestdal is on average 100 meters. The peat river rises in the former peat areas near Lutten. Around De Wijk we see a number of beautiful estates and old farms on both sides of the Reest. Incidentally, the Reestdal is home to many special plant species. The Marsh Marigold, but also rarities such as Greater Pimpernel, Northern Sedge and Marsh Cartel Leaf are present. De WijkDe Wijk was first mentioned in 1383. De Wijk is closely connected to the manors De Havixhorst, Dikninge, Dunnigen and Voorwijk and to the village of IJhorst in Overijssel, located across the Reest. In the past, people said of De Wijk that it was a village without a church and of IJhorst that it was a church without a village.IJhorstIJhorst was first mentioned in 1176 as a village with 5 farms along the Reest, two of which were probably on the Overijssel side. The church of IJhorst was mentioned in 1292 and was dedicated to Saint Nicholas. The current building dates from 1823. The crypt of the Lords of Munster is located under the choir and dates from 1658. The lords of De Havixhorst and the abbots of the Dikninge monastery are buried in the crypt. Next to the church is a bell tower on a foundation of boulders. Due to the construction of the monastery with church in Dikninge around 1325, there have been close ties with the church in IJhorst. The story goes that there was an underground passage that connected both churches. This passage has not been found to date.FortFort was created after 1850 during peat extraction. It is not known whether there was ever a fort or other defensive structure. The possibility of a ford (by the Reest) from which the word fort would be derived also seems unlikely. Staphorst ForestThe Staphorst forest is located in the middle of a forest-poor region. This makes it very attractive to animals, including the badger with their castles. The forests were planted between 1930 and 1940 by unemployed people from the west of the country as a job creation project. The forest is interspersed with fens and heathlands. Peat was still extracted from a number of fens until 1970. The large heathland 'De Vier Bergen' shows what it must have looked like at the time the forest was built.LankhorstThe hamlet of Lankhorst in the municipality of Staphorst consists mainly of farms along the Lankhorsterweg. The intersection of the nearby A28 and A32 was named Lankhorst junction. During the construction of this intersection, parts of an American fighter plane from the Second World War were found. This concerns a Republic Thunderbolt P-47D. The plane crashed during air battles with German fighters in 1944. The pilot was killed.De Havixhorst / Dikninghe / VoorwijkDe Havixhorst was first mentioned in 1409 in the archives of the Dickninge Abbey. The current country house dates from 1753. The accompanying garden has been redesigned in baroque style. The garden of the manor is used as a herb garden for the restaurant and can be visited freely. On the spot Lutteke Havixhorst or 'De kleine Havixhorst' on the edge of the estate is the information centre 'De Lokkerij' about storks. The 175 hectare large estate Dikninge in English landscape style has an eventful history. In 1325 the monastery of Ruinen was moved to this location and from here the churches in Beilen, Blijdenstein Ruinen and Westerbork were served. After 1580 probably as a result of the 80-year war the monks had disappeared and in 1603 the monastery was closed. In 1795 Baron RH de Vos van Steenwijk became the new owner. He demolished all the old buildings and placed a new one, the current building, which was completed in 1813. Voorwijk was built at the end of the 18th century by W. Tonckens. Around 1900, the house came into the possession of the De Vos van Steenwijk family. Both the house and garden cannot be visited.