Cycling in Westerwolde

When you think of cycling in Groningen you may think of 'cycling against the wind along vast fields', but Westerwolde is different. There are no straight lines here, but winding roads. No distant horizons, but intimate pieces of heath, forest or arable land.

Beautiful nature reserves
During this route of almost 70 kilometers you cycle through various beautiful nature reserves in Groningen. For example, you pass through Ter Borg, a small hamlet in the municipality of Vlagtwedde. It seems as if time has stood still here for centuries. There are four farms and a seventeenth-century sheepfold. There are small fields and hedgerows all around. Some oaks are up to two hundred years old and so thick that you can't hug them. To the west of the hamlet there is an original heathland of 35 hectares where a sheepfold is located.

Fortress Bourtange
Bourtange fortress is located near the German border in Westerwolde. This is a unique historical defense structure. When you cycle through here, you will feel like you have gone centuries back in time. The fortified village was built during the Dutch Revolt during the Eighty Years' War. What is striking about the fortress is its shape; a pentagon. The fortress was used as border defense of the three northern provinces: Groningen, Friesland and Drenthe. Then it is time to cycle all the way south towards Sellingen and then end up again in Vlagtwedde.