Drenthepad Noordoost

Drenthepad Noordoost is the northern section of the Drenthepad (SP 6), a 329-kilometre regional trail through Drenthe. This 53.4-kilometre route runs in three stages from Glimmen to Borger, along the Hondsrug and through the Drentsche Aa area.

The route starts in the Drentsche Aa valley, with hay meadows and hedgerows between Glimmen and Zuidlaren, and the north shore of the Zuidlaardermeer. In Zuidlaren seven village greens lined with old oaks lead into the centre. The second stage is the longest and runs along the Hondsrug past the Gasteren and Eext es, with the Kymmelsberg as a higher point and the beech avenues of the De Schipborg estate. Near Eext the D12 and D13 hunebedden lie a few kilometres off the path. The third stage runs through woods and heath to the Drouwen hunebedden and ends at D27: 22.6 metres long and, with nine capstones, the largest hunebed in the country. The Hunebedcentrum beside it has a prehistoric park with a reconstruction of a Stone Age house.

The landscape is a sequence of stream valley, field, wood and heath, with the Hondsrug as the thread. Do not expect real climbs: the ridge barely rises above 20 metres here, but the alternation of open fields and sheltered paths keeps the route varied.

Practical. The Drenthepad is waymarked with yellow-and-red stripes. Glimmen is about fifteen minutes by bus from Groningen; Borger is served by bus to Assen, where trains continue. The stages end in Zuidlaren and Gieten, both with food and shops. There are no mountain huts: you stay in hotels, bed & breakfasts and campsites. Spring and September are the best months, with heather in bloom in August; after wet spells the paths in the stream valleys are muddy.