The Gaast
Cycling along the path through the Gaast, a landscape full of contrasts unfolds. To the left you see vast fields with tree lines, to the right rugged reed beds and willow thickets along the Westerwoldse Aa.
Old dykes, watercourses and even a polder mill recall the battle against water, while the Kompenkolk still tells of a dyke breach.
Thanks to restoration projects, the small-scale landscape with its meandering river is returning. Here the yellowhammer breeds, the skylark sings high above the fields and the marsh harrier hunts above the grain. Bluethroats and warblers live in the reedbeds, while roe deer move silently through the thickets. Butterflies like the cowfinch and the icarus blue also colour summer days.
Located between Bellingwolde and Wedde, De Gaast is a place where farmland and nature go hand in hand - a living landscape, rich in stories and species.