SURROUNDINGS

Many people know Groningen as a land of wide fields and clay, and a far stretched horizon. Westerwolde, the region Ter Apel is in, is different. There are nog straight lines here, but lovely winding paths with diverse patches of heather, beautiful woods and fields. With the meandering streams and slopes in the landscape you are in a completely different space. Westerwolde is a nature area that is rich in, sometimes rare, flora and fauna.

The valley of the Ruiten Aa, a stream that has been returned to its original meanders, is known as one of the most beautiful stream valleys in the Netherlands. Woods with a divers variety of trees, some more than 1000 years old, lie on either side of the stream. Even the kingfisher can be seen now and then. In Ter Wupping 3 streams come together in a diverse landscape with wooden banks, little streams, grassland, woods, and severel typical Westerwolde farms. This is the habitat of whinchats, quails, bluethroats, and the Eurasian reed warbler. A true Walhalla for these birds!

In the Hunbedcentre in Borger, on the Drentse Hondsrug, you go back to the prehistory, when the first farmers settled in Drenthe. They built impressive stone grave monuments of which the remnants can still be seen in the landscape of Drenthe. There are still 54 left and the largest one is directly next to the village centre.

Next to the museum the Prehistoric Park is opened. There you can experience the way our forefathers lived on their farms. You can also go for a walk through 150.000 years of history of Drenthe.

You cannot find a place like Drenthe in the world, where there are still 52 hunbeds. Visit the largest hunbed in the Netherlands, older than the piramids or Stonehenge! Directly next to this is the Hunbed Centre, where you imagine yourself back in prehistoric times and the people who made the hunbeds.

The Hunbed Centre is the information centre of Geopark the Hondsrug and is the starting point for several lovely walking and biking routes through this nature area.