Odoornerdennen, een jong bos op een zandverstuiving

To the north of the village of Odoorn lies the Odoornerdennen: a wood standing on former drift-sand. The wood was originally laid out by farmers to prevent the drifting sand encroaching on their fields.

A natural motorway

In many places in the Odoornerdennen you will come across splendid areas of heath with large juniper bushes. These parts of the land were too hilly to clear.

Walking here in the woods you will also see that broad alleys of trees have been felled. This was done mainly to make it easier for animals to move across the area. Thanks to this ‘natural motorway’ animals can more easily make contact with others of their species elsewhere.