Holiday apartment in Rotsterhaule between moorland and village history

Rotsterhaule combines moorland, birdwatching and a multifaceted village history. Easterskar gives the area a strong connection to nature, while houses on Streek and Boerestreek display different construction periods and architectural forms. If you are looking for a holiday apartment in Rotsterhaule, you can plan your trip around short nature experiences and discoveries of cultural history.

Holiday apartment in Rotsterhaule between moorland and village history

Landscape and birdwatching in Easterskar

Easterskar is a wetland where you can walk along old peat cuttings and through moorland woodland. The elongated strips of water, known as peat cuttings, were created by excavating peat. Easterskar escaped the agricultural cultivation planned around 1960; as a result, special plants, birds, butterflies, reptiles and amphibians were preserved there.

In spring, 90 different bird species breed in Easterskar. The area is freely accessible to the public during the day all year round. There are entrances at Bisschopweg and at three locations along Skarwei. The Skiere Goes birdwatching hut is accessible all year round; parking is available at Richard Jungweg in Rotsterhaule. The hut offers a view rich in birdlife, and particularly large numbers of greylag geese can be seen there in spring.

Yellow and red routes for different day plans

Two colour-coded routes offer different walking-time options: the short yellow route in Easterskar is approximately 3.5 km long and runs along reed beds and bodies of water. The red route is approximately 4.5 km long and leads through wet grasslands, peat cuttings and moorland woodland. The different route lengths help you consciously plan the walking time for a day around your holiday apartment.

Village history and distinctive architectural forms

Rotsterhaule originated around 1500 as a dispersed settlement along a drainage and cultivation axis from Sintjohannesga in the northeast. From the mid-18th century onwards, low moorland around Rotsterhaule was excavated and processed into peat. Large-scale peat extraction changed Rotsterhaule and its village area. The connection zone from the Tsjonger to Easterskar was begun at the end of 2018 and completed in spring 2019.

Streek 161 is a single-storey house from 1907 with a central avant-corps extended upwards into a dormer. Streek 130 is a wooden house built around 1930 with a thatched hipped roof and expressionist forms. Streek 151 is a Stelp farmstead designed by H. Telgenhof in 1926, with a brick dormer and bakehouse. Boerestreek 7 is a modern farmstead from 1939.

Baking tradition and places of remembrance

Near Easterskar there is a weapons drop site from the Second World War with the code name “Frying Pan”. After his emergency landing, John Gordon Fraser initially hid in Easterskar; Siebe de Jong and Jan Sloothaak supplied him with civilian clothing and food. Van Dijk’s rye bread factory is regarded as one of the best-preserved examples of the local baking tradition. In the past century, Rotsterhaule and Sintjohannesga were known for their baking trade and are considered twin villages.

More places to discover

Idskenhuizen, Terkaple, Teroele, Rohel, Joure, Boornzwaag, Sintjohannesga and Oldeouwer

For the higher-level travel overview: Skarsterlân.