The Hunze Valley

On the eastern side of the Hondsrug, the Hunze flows through a broad, open stream valley. Here the water meanders freely again through wet grasslands, after years in which the brook had been straightened ruler-straight. You hear the reed beds rustle, see birds skim low over the water and feel the openness of a landscape slowly regaining its wild character.

A stream allowed to meander again

In the previous century the Hunze was straightened and embanked for agriculture. Since the Hunze Vision of 1995, Het Drentse Landschap, Het Groninger Landschap and the World Wide Fund for Nature have worked together on restoration. Step by step the stream regained its bends and the valley is allowed to flood again, creating a wetter, more nature-rich landscape.

Beavers and marsh birds

The restoration is working: since 2008 beavers have lived along the Hunze again, by now in several families. Thanks to the room given to water, the valley attracts more and more marsh birds. With a little patience and a pair of binoculars you can watch life return to an area that was once mostly farmland.

On foot and by bike

The Hunze Valley stretches for tens of kilometres along the foot of the Hondsrug. From villages such as Exloo and Gasselte you explore the valley on foot or by bike, for instance along the Hunze route. Between Exloo and Valthe lie the Zoersche Landen, a special piece of nature in the valley where you clearly feel the transition from sandy ridge to stream valley.