Top 5: Haantjeduin Emmen, Drenthe - 12.5 km / 17 Photos

18-AUG-2024
After a long train ride due to detours because of maintenance works we arrived in Emmen just before 12 AM and after a 15 minutes walk had lunch on the market square on route of the hike. Even though this was also our monthly culinairy walk I did not take any pictures from the nice food we had for lunch and dinner.
The walking tour 'Emmerdennen. that was setup by the organisation that manages and maintains many of the Dutch forests was a beautiful rount tour we took from the train station around the city of Emmen taking us through pittoreske countryside and historical graves.
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Just on the outskirts of Emmen we find the first Hunebed; a long grave of within the almost complete stone circle of 52 stones (restored) are two burial vaults embedded in the 40-meter-long covering mound
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My sister and I were really looking forward to this next hike in the 12 Tops adventure
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The track was very well indicated by hexagonal signs
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August is the month that the purple heather is in bloom that stands out so beautifully against the other colors in nature
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The landscaped forest has a large variety of shrubs and trees
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On a heathland in the Valtherbos just above Emmen lies a trio of dolmens.
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Originally this was a medium-sized dolmen with 5 capstones. There are now 2 left and they have slid off the supporting stones and are half on the ground.
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This dolmen is surrounded by a round sand bank; the remainder of the original covering mound. The 8 side and keystones are all still there but lie deep in the sand. One fairly flat capstone lies on the supporting stones, there must have been 3 at one time.
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This forest lake is called 'Het Appeltje' (the little apple)
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Another view of 'Het Appeltje'
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This path follows a small stream ...
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... that ends in another forest lake where we can cross to find our way to the top we are looking for
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The top Haantjeduin! as can be seen from the the roots of the trees on both sides the sand has been blown away from the top that is now 3 meters lower than decribed in the tour guide!
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A look backwards to the top when we continue our way back to Emmen
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On the border of Emmen we come across the third largest dolmen in the Netherlands, situated on a high spot in the terrain.
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The province oif Drenthe in the north east of the country where the blue spots indicate the area where we hiked today
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The track wit start and return at the train station of Emmen with the locations where the pictures were taken
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