Weerribben-Wieden National Park

This is what centuries of peat digging left behind: long strips of land alternating with flooded trenches, gradually grown over into a marsh of reed beds, willow scrub and open water that is now the largest lowland peat wetland in northwest Europe. Reed is still cut here in winter for thatching, and that continued work is part of why the habitat survives at all. Otters live in it again after decades of absence, bitterns boom across the reed in spring, and the large copper butterfly holds on in the wetter corners. The way to see any of it is from the water, in a canoe or one of the small electric boats, following marked routes through channels barely wider than the hull. Ossenzijl and Kalenberg are the usual starting points.

History

Large parts of the area were long dug for peat, and since then part of it has been used to grow reed for thatching. The national park, which takes in the largest bog of north-western Europe, was founded in 1992, and De Wieden was added in 2009 (Wikipedia, Weerribben-Wieden National Park).

The landscape

• The canoe routes - marked water trails through narrow reed-lined channels, the only way into the interior.
• Reed beds and cutting strips - the ribbed pattern of peat trenches and drying banks that shaped the whole landscape.
• Bird hides and observation towers - overlooking open water where bitterns, harriers and black terns are regular.
• Whisper boats - small electric craft for hire in the villages, quiet enough not to clear the water ahead of you.

When to go

May and June are best for birdsong, marsh flowers and long light, with dragonflies and butterflies peaking in July. September is quieter on the water. Winter shows the reed harvest in progress but most hire operations close. Book boats ahead on summer weekends, when the villages run out of hulls by mid-morning.

Things to know

Mosquitoes and horseflies are serious near the reed in high summer, and there is no escape from them in a canoe. Paddling into a headwind on open water is hard work, and the marked routes are longer than they look on a map. Some channels close during the breeding season. Day trippers from the crowded canal village nearby spill into the same car parks and boat rentals.

Nearby

Giethoorn sits at the southern edge of the same wetland, and Steenwijk is the nearest town of any size.

Key facts