The best hiking routes in Dinkelland

Dinkelland offers a landscape shaped by the slow-flowing Dinkel river, where the terrain transitions between damp alluvial grasslands and dry, sandy inland dunes. Unlike flatter Dutch polders, this area features a gently undulating relief created by wind-blown sands and river deposits. Walkers will notice how the path quickly changes from soft, sandy tracks on the higher ridges to firmer, darker soil closer to the water.

Underfoot, the paths are predominantly unpaved, consisting of natural sand tracks that can feel loose in summer, interspersed with grassy paths through the lower meadows. The river itself meanders naturally, meaning some paths follow the sharp bends of the water while others cut straight through small patches of deciduous woodland and heather. It is a working agricultural landscape as much as a nature reserve, so you will pass historic timber-framed farms and small-scale fields enclosed by traditional hedgerows.

This area is not a place for wide, open vistas or deep forest isolation. Instead, it offers a constant alternation of shade and light, with small-scale landscapes succeeding one another every few hundred meters. In August, the purple heather on the sandy patches provides a sharp contrast to the green river clay, making the geological transition of the valley floor visible to anyone on foot.