Discover Balloo: trails, heathland and village history

When planning a stay in Balloo, you can choose from several highlights: prehistoric burial mounds, the historic village character, and hiking and cycling routes. You can then decide whether your trip will focus more on a hike through the Ballooërveld, local history or archaeological remains.

Heathland and archaeological traces

More than 35 prehistoric burial mounds have been preserved in the Tumulibos in Balloo. The Ballooërveld is a heathland in the municipality of Aa en Hunze. Heath and grass-covered heathland characterise the area, interspersed with occasional peat lakes, pine forest and small areas of drifting sand. This means you can encounter both open heathland and traces of earlier land use within a compact area.

Alongside large areas of sand and heathland, burial mounds and medieval cart tracks can be seen on the Ballooërveld. These remains date from different periods: the burial mounds are prehistoric, while the cart tracks are medieval. If you are interested in the history of the landscape, you can view both types of historical traces in the context of the heathland without treating them as belonging to the same period.

Hiking and cycling around Balloo

The Boswachterspad Ballooërveld starts at the Schaapskooi Ballooërveld in Balloo. The Ballooërveld walking route crosses the Noord Esch and runs alongside the Koebroeksveld and the stream valleys of the Loonerdiep and Smalbroekenloopje. It then crosses the Ballooërveld back to the sheepfold. These details offer different kinds of guidance for planning your outing: a named starting point and a specific route through the Esch, stream valleys and heathland.

There is also a cycling route through Balloo: the 30-kilometre Rolderrug and Through the Stream Valleys route passes through it at cycle junction 69. If this route suits your day’s plans, check the current route before setting out, as route details may change.

Village character and heritage

Balloo is a small, ring-shaped Esdorp with a double triangular Brink. The original character of the Esdorp is preserved as far as possible. The first settlement probably dates back to before the ninth century. The village’s layout and settlement history therefore offer a different perspective on Balloo from the landscape traces of the Ballooërveld.

Another distinctive natural and cultural heritage site is the Balloërkuil, also called Ballerkuul in Drents. It is a natural hollow in the drifting sand on the boundary between Balloo and Rolde and has developed into a tourist attraction. Balloo is also home to Hunebed D16, one of the larger hunebedden in Drenthe. The site containing D16 is dated to the Neolithic period. This dating refers to the site with the hunebed; by contrast, the probable early settlement refers to Balloo. A walking route from Kampsheide leads to Hunebed D16.

The flock on the Ballooërveld

The Ballooërveld flock consists of 400 Drenthe Heath Sheep and is the largest flock in Drenthe. The shepherd takes them onto the heath every day. If you want to know where the flock is on a particular day, the information board at the Schaapskooi Balloërveld provides an update each day. This lets you take the flock’s location into account when planning your day, without confusing it with a fixed route.

More destinations

Discover more destinations: Nijlande, Anderen, Grolloo, Vredenheim, Gasselternijveen, Nieuwediep, Schoonloo, Gasselte

For the broader travel overview: Aa En Hunze.