De Groote Peel

The Peel was a raised bog covering a large part of the Brabant-Limburg border, and from the eighteenth century it was dug systematically for peat by a workforce living in huts on the bog itself in conditions that became notorious - the peat colonies here are a documented episode in Dutch social history. By the mid-twentieth century almost all of it was gone. De Groote Peel is the 1,340 hectares that survived, made a national park, with the digging pattern still visible in the straight channels and pools. It is now one of the more significant Dutch bird sites: common cranes stop here in large numbers on migration and have bred since the 2000s, along with black-necked grebes, bitterns and nightjars. Marked routes cross the wet ground on boardwalks with observation towers. The bog is being rewetted to restore peat growth.

History

The present landscape was shaped by peat cutting, which in places left large lakes in the marsh, and rows of trees were planted around the middle of the 20th century; what survives is one of the last raised bogs in the region left largely uncultivated, now crossed by raised walkways (Wikipedia, De Groote Peel National Park).

What's there

• A dug bog - straight channels and pools left by two centuries of peat cutting.
• Cranes on migration - large numbers stopping, and breeding since the 2000s.
• Boardwalks and towers - the routes across wet ground with viewing points.
• Rewetting work - restoration aimed at getting peat growing again.

When to go

April to October; autumn for the cranes. A day.

Things to know

Stay on the boardwalks - the peat is wet and fragile. Mosquitoes are severe. The park is flat and the interest is birds and history rather than scenery. Parking is charged.

Nearby

Mariapeel adjoins to the north; Weert is west.

Key facts