Beautiful tour of Markelo by bicycle

Markelo is a tourist village in Twente and is characterized by the hilly surroundings of the Markelo mountain and dozens of national monuments, including the Martinus church. The scenic route first heads south through the hamlet of Stokkum, again with a few national monuments, and then runs along the attractive Schipbeek stream. This small river meanders partly naturally through the area, but has also been canalized in several places for the benefit of the former navigability by the so-called zompschepen. The Schipbeek, bordered by extensive reed beds, also serves at high water as an inlet for the nearby Twente Canal. At the village of Kring van Dorth, part of the municipality of Lochem, we cross the A1 and arrive in Holten, a popular, tourist village at the foot of the Salland Ridge. On the Holterberg lies the Holten Canadian War Cemetery and the well-known and popular Nature Museum Holterberg. The Sallandse Heuvelrug is a fascinating nature reserve that is going through a major upheaval in the coming years due to the expansion of heathlands and proposed logging. The area is extremely popular with the cycling public. After the hamlet of Ligtenberg the route continues past Rijssen and through the special nature reserve the Borkeld, which consists of young forest, large moors, loam pits and fields. The Borkeld is also an impressive place due to the presence of the largest juniper thicket in the Netherlands. After 48 beautiful kilometers we reach the end point.