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Fochteloo Roaming Route

(29 km)

Fochteloo is one of the earliest inhabited areas of the Northern Netherlands. There were people living here before the Christian era. Back in the 1930s, traces of a prehistoric settlement were found on the cycle path near the Tachtig Bunder nature reserve.

In around 1850, the collapse of the peatland and improved drainage revealed the remains of a prehistoric forest. This primeval forest must have been felled centuries ago due to the encroachment of the peat and violent storms. So the name Fochteloo probably means ‘wet forest’.

Human activities such as deforestation, resource extraction, farming and parcelling of land have had a significant impact on the landscape in this area in recent centuries. Some of the earliest farming methods are still visible today in the form of the village greens, which originally served as common grazing land. These areas were spread with sheep manure mixed with heath sods. Over the centuries this repeated fertilisation raised the height of the greens.

In the 1970s, the introduction of large-scale farming, reparcelling of agricultural land and continued extraction of peat from raised bogs brought about significant changes in the landscape here. Fortunately, many replanting and landscape enhancement projects carried out soon after helped restore the area, which is well worth a visit.

Locations on this route

Start point:

Waypoint bike 58
Fochteloo
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Fochteloërveen Nature Reserve

This area on the border between the provinces of Friesland and Drenthe that looks like a savanna, is actually one of the last raised bog areas in Western Europe. The cranes that live here add an exotic note.

De Fochtel Monument

Since 2010, natural processes have been allowed to operate in this part of the Fochteloërveen nature reserve. This helps to provide an important buffer for the remaining raised bogs.