Veluwe Zwerfpad Midden

Veluwe Zwerfpad Midden is the middle section of the Veluwe Zwerfpad (SP 16), a 357-kilometre regional trail across the Veluwe. This 39.1-kilometre route runs in two stages from Hoenderloo to Dieren, across the Loenermark and down into the IJssel valley.

The first stage passes the Woeste Hoeve, an old inn on the edge of the Veluwe, and crosses the Loenermark heath, where a flock of sheep grazes and the sheepfold stands at Loenen. Just outside the village is the Loenense Waterval, a weir in the stream on the flank of the moraine. The second stage drops to the IJssel and follows the edge of the Veluwezoom through woods and estates to Dieren.

The landscape alternates between closed woodland, open drift sand and wet heath. The climbs are short and never steep; it is mostly about distance, with two days of twenty and nineteen kilometres.

Practical. The route is waymarked with yellow-and-red stripes. Hoenderloo is served by bus from Apeldoorn and Ede-Wageningen; Dieren has a station on the Arnhem - Zutphen line, a few hundred metres from the finish. There is one overnight stop, in Loenen, with a hotel and a campsite. August is the best month for the heather, April and May for the woods; after wet spells the paths across the heath can be boggy.