Holiday apartment in Winterswijk Woold – Nature, Trails and Border History

Winterswijk Woold is a very densely forested area.

Moorlands and forests around Woold

Bekendelle forms the valley of the Slinge and features a unique riparian forest. The area is part of the Natura 2000 network and is one of the few swamp forests in the Netherlands. Wooldse Veen is also designated as a Natura 2000 area. It is one of the last remaining raised bogs that once marked the border between the Netherlands and Germany.

A hiking trail runs through Wooldse Veen. According to local recommendations, activities there are best undertaken in wellington boots. Access is only possible via the boardwalk, where one-way traffic applies. Anyone planning to use the hiking trail should therefore bring wellington boots and follow the prescribed direction on the boardwalk.

Border history on hiking and cycling routes

An old smuggling route between Wooldse Veen and the moorland area on the German side can now be used as a cross-border cycling route. It passes the Groene Grens and numerous historic boundary stones. For centuries, Wooldse Veen was an important smuggling area; its heyday lasted from 1918 into the 1930s. The boundary stones and the Groene Grens give this cycling route a clear historical connection.

The former railway line between Bocholt and Winterswijk, which ran through Woold, is now a cycle path that continues to the German city of Bocholt. Several signposted hiking and cycling routes start at TOP Berenschot. The approximately 23-kilometre E day hike of the Scholtenpad also starts there. Several hikes from the Achterhoek hiking network can be selected from Harmienehoeve. At approximately 23 kilometres, E is a self-contained day plan; the route options at TOP Berenschot and Harmienehoeve can also be considered as additional starting points for planning the day.

Culture, farm history and regional specialities

Berenschot's Watermolen is a Rijksmonument dating from 1652 and is located on the edge of the Bekendelle nature reserve. If the water level is sufficient, the mill can still operate; visitors can then see the machinery moving inside.

Keunenhuis is a historic farmstead whose history is connected with the Scholten farming culture, which shaped Winterswijk's social and agricultural history for centuries. Access is only possible with advance reservation; there are no open visits. Large so-called Scholtenboerderijen continue to shape Woold's landscape. The reservation requirement means that Keunenhuis must be planned differently for spontaneous visits than the Scholtenboerderijen that are present in the landscape.

Winterswijk cheese has been produced at Harmienehoeve since 1969 and is sold directly in the cheese shop. Harmienehoeve thus combines a cheese shop with a starting point for the hiking network.

More from Winterswijk: Winterswijk Henxel, Winterswijk, Winterswijk Brinkheurne, Winterswijk Miste and Winterswijk Kotten.

To the main travel overview: Winterswijk.