Oenkerk - Leeuwarden | Elfstedenpad Hiking Trail: Section 15

You walk from the village of Oenkerk to Giekerk. Just outside this village you pass the Delft blue Elfstedentocht bridge – the last bridge the skaters pass under on their way to the finish line. On one side of the bridge, Delft blue portrait tiles depict skaters competing in the event. On the other side are the words 'IT SIL HEVE' (‘IT WILL HAPPEN’).

You carry on along the bank of the Dokkumer Ee canal through the little villages of Lekkum and Snakkerburen to the stretch of water that served as the finish line until 1963. Later the finish line of the tour skating event was moved to the Bonkevaart canal, a side branch of the Dokkumer Ee canal that runs alongside the Groningerstraatweg road. But this is not a pleasant road to walk along, 

so you skip this bit. Instead, you carry on to the nicer setting of Prinsentuin park in Leeuwarden where you can feel very proud of having completed the ‘tour of all tours’!

You trekked an impressive 283 kilometres through the Frisian countryside and visited all of Friesland’s eleven cities: Leeuwarden, Sneek, IJlst, Sloten, Stavoren, Hindeloopen, Workum, Bolsward, Harlingen, Franeker and Dokkum! Congratulations! We hope you will enjoy looking back on your experience of walking the Elfstedenpad hiking trail for a long time to come.