Get on your motorbike and discover the mysterious border area between the Netherlands and Germany. This route takes you past peatlands, old peat fields and forgotten paths where the energy of the Netherlands was once extracted. The landscape is vast and rugged, with straight lines, long vistas and a surprisingly rich history. Along the way you will find peace, space and a few well-hidden gems. Ideal for those who love nature, history and wonderfully relaxed driving.

You start the route at the Raiffeisen Tankstelle in Emlichheim. Fill up with fuel, maybe a snack, and then head for the border. You soon drive along the Coevorden-Picardiëkanaal, an old waterway that once symbolized grand plans. It is quiet here. The air is vast. The water lies tightly in the landscape and invites you to a short photo stop. You cross the border and glide along country roads towards Ringe. In the Hochmoor Ringe you can smell the peat. You feel it in the air, in the silence. A wooden boardwalk winds through the raised bog. Birds fly low and the reeds rustle along with your engine as you slowly continue. The route bends to Nieuw-Schoonebeek, where the traces of oil extraction remain visible. The names recall engineers, canals and labor. The peat tells its own story. Not much later you cross the border again and reach the Emsland-Moormuseum. Here you make a short stop at the Tour Photo Point. Old tools, narrow gauge railway and large peat blocks bring the past to life. Via quiet roads and quiet fields you approach Lingen, where Restaurant Kiebitz welcomes you with schnitzel, steak or a hearty German lunch. It is warm inside, outside it smells of coffee and fried onion. Time to stand still for a moment. And then: on the road again.
After the break, the route winds through Wietmarschen, a region full of long straight roads through barren plains. This is energy territory – literally. You pass the Dalum-Wietmarscher Moor, a rugged piece of nature where the horizon seems endless. Here you ride alone with your thoughts and your engine, nothing more and nothing less.
The route slowly bends back towards Emlichheim. You ride through small villages with resounding names such as Osterwald, Neuenhaus and Hoogstede. Once again you ride along peat routes and along grass dikes, under high skies and over quiet asphalt strips. And then, after more than 110 kilometres of history, nature and relaxation, you are back at the Raiffeisen Tankstelle. The circle is complete.

The 15th Pioneer Route is one for those seeking peace and quiet, nature lovers and riders who love landscapes with a story. The roads are good and clear, the surroundings breathe history and the stops are surprisingly interesting. You ride through a forgotten border region full of energy - literally and figuratively.
This ride is at its best in spring or early autumn, when the peat is wet, the air is low and the road is open before you.