Winterswijk Woold: Moorlands, Border Paths and Rural Heritage

Woold is a very wooded area. The local themes offer several ways to shape your stay in Winterswijk Woold: moors and woodland, cycling and walking routes, and history related to the border, agriculture and crafts. If you are looking for a hotel for your trip, you can use these interests to decide which aspects of the destination you would like to focus on during your stay.

Moorland Landscapes and Streamside Woodland

Wooldse Veen is one of the last remaining raised bogs; the moorland once marked the border between the Netherlands and Germany. The area is designated as a Natura 2000 site. A walking trail leads through the wetland. The local recommendation is to plan activities there with wellington boots. Wooldse Veen is accessible only via the boardwalk, which is one-way.

Bekendelle is also part of the Natura 2000 network and is one of the few swamp forests in the Netherlands. The area forms the valley of the Slinge and features unique streamside floodplain woodland. Wooldse Veen and Bekendelle thus represent different nature themes: raised bog and historic border landscape on the one hand, and swamp forest and streamside floodplain woodland on the other.

Walking and Cycling Routes

An old smuggling route between Wooldse Veen and the moorland 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, with a peak period from 1918 into the 1930s. The route thus links a present-day cycling option with the area's border history.

The former railway line between Bocholt and Winterswijk has also found a new use. It ran through Woold and is now a cycle path that continues to the German town of Bocholt. Several signposted walking and cycling routes start at TOP Berenschot. One specific walking option is Scholtenpad day walk E: it is about 23 kilometres long and starts at Berenschot's Watermolen. Several walks on the Achterhoek walking network are also available from Harmienehoeve. When planning, you can take the different starting points and the approximate length of the Scholtenpad route into account; route information can be checked again before setting out.

Mills, Farms and Regional History

Berenschot's Watermolen is a Rijksmonument dating from 1652 and is located on the edge of the Bekendelle nature area. When the water level is high enough, the mill can still grind. Visitors can then see the gears in motion inside. The water level determines whether this is possible.

Keunenhuis is a historic farm whose story is connected with the Scholten farming culture. This culture shaped Winterswijk's social and agricultural history for centuries. Access to Keunenhuis is only possible by prior reservation; it is not open for casual visits. Large farms known as Scholtenboerderijen continue to shape Woold's landscape.

Harmienehoeve also represents regional production: Winterswijk cheese has been made there since 1969 and is sold directly in the cheese shop. Together with the walks, historic farms and routes through the moorland, this offers more than one perspective on Winterswijk Woold. Depending on your interests, you can shape your trip around nature, cycling and walking routes, or rural cultural heritage.

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