Weerribben Wieden

Home
Weerribben Wieden

Around park: 6km

Weerribben Wieden is a beautiful region in the northwest of Overijssel. A region where you can sail, cycle, and hike through the beautiful forest, reeds, water landscapes, and picturesque towns, such as Giethoorn and Blokzijl. The area is also known for the Weerribben-Wieden National Park, the largest lowland peat moor area of northwestern Europe. In this versatile area, plants, animals and people feel at home.

The origin of the environment started in the ice age. This created a wavy landscape in the Netherlands. This created a boulder hump "The High Land of Vollenhove" at Vollenhove. Between the High Land of Vollenhove and Steenwijk, an area was created in the shape of a soup plate, and the water continued to flow through the loam. Accumulations of dead water and marsh plants caused peat formation. Over the course of centuries, a peat bog came about that was sometimes three to four meters thick at places.

Around the 12th century, attempts were made to dehydrate the peat bog in "De Wieden" by digging ditches and making them suitable for habitation. Afterwards, people discovered that dried peat could serve as fuel. Since then, peat extraction has been the main trade of this area for centuries.

Peat was excavated in long trenches where a strip was kept in order to let the peat dry, these strips were called 'legakkers'. There was a great demand for peat as fuel, so a lot of peat was extracted. The tensile holes were becoming wider and there could be a considerable surge during storms themselves, so much so that these 'legakkers' were completely knocked away. This caused large lakes, called De Wieden, to be formed. After two storms in the years 1775 and 1776, even the village of Beulake disappeared in the waves. However, the church with the tower remained standing until it also disappeared in 1825 due to a flood.

Peat extraction in the Weerribben started much later. Due to the experience of digging up peat in the Wieden, people had become wiser and rules have been laid down on the breadth that the 'legakkers' must have as a minimum. This is why no large lakes were created in De Weerribben. The peat landscape can be seen in the name Ribben narrow strips of land on which the peat dredger was dried, and Weren are the debris parts that were filled with water again. By these waters you can now sail with canoe or boat, and enjoy our nature reserve and the wetlands.

More Near the park

Around park: 0km

Botterwerf Vollenhove

Historische botterwerf keert terug in Vollenhove. Het word een levendige terugkeer voor het Veno’s Skutien. De botterwerf wordt een informatief centrum en leerplaats voor onderhoud voor deze schepen.

Around park: 0km

Resting point

Get on your bike, in a boat or get your hiking shoes and discover the beautiful Waterreijk Weeribben Wieden with its many picturesque towns and villages. Hear the silence, feel the space, smell the scent and taste the typical hospitality of Waterreijk Weeribben Wieden. This is the area where's you're really away, but still a little bit at home.

Around park: 0km

Excursions

Historical city walk: This is a walk along the most important monuments in Vollenhove. A visit to the St. Nicolas Church (the Great Church) is included. Here we'll pay attention to architecture, church interior and church practices. In the historical garden of "Marxveld" we'll talk about the many centuries of garden landscaping.

Around park: 0km

Vollenhove, a rich history

Vollenhove is a small town with a rich history. In the year 994, the town was mentioned for the first time in the Netherlands under the name Fulnaho (bird forest). It was a large forest and an important area for hunting. In the following years, the town of Vollenhove grew bigger. In the 12th century a fortress and a church were built.

Around park: 0km

Discover on land, at sea, and by air

On land

There are many miles of hiking and cycling routes spread across the beautiful nature reserve. These will lead you past the most beautiful parts of nature and many unique villages and towns in this fantastic piece of Overijssel.