Johans Kayak Site   www.kanoroutes.nl

River Linde
CONTENT

From Ossenzijl you can navigate 28 km. upstream.
The nicest part is between Het Wijde to the Noordwoldervaart (2 x 11,5 km) or a little further to the woods Stuttebos (2 x 18,5 km).
After the Stuttebos the waterlevel is low and this makes navigating difficult.

Kayak rentals:

De Lindevaarders near the bridge Kontermansbrug (4 km east of Wolvega). Family H. Dedden, Vinkegavaartweg 7, 8474 EB Oldeholtpade, tel: 0561 - 688296.

Starting point at the lake Het Wijde

You can leave the highway A32 at Wolvega or Steenwijk. At De Blesse you go in the direction of Blesdijke. Between Blesdijke an Oldemarkt you turn right on the Oosterbroekweg. After a bend to the right you come at a picnic place at the end of the lake Het Wijde. This is a good starting point.

From here you go to the right (east), and after 4 km you reach the bridge and a small harbor belonging to a private club (no trespassing allowed). A little further on you pass the bridges of the railroad and the highway. If you go to the side just after the bridges you can see a groundwater level meter. After this you come at the most beautiful part of the Linde. On both sides there are nature-reserves and a large variety of plants grow along the shore. There is only a bicycle-road along the river so no traffic-noise disturbs the quietness. About 4 km further on you come at a bridge named "Kontermansbrug". This is where you can rent canoes. A little further on you'll see a white bridge in the distance. Just behind the bridge is a barrage with canoe-piers. This is as far as I went on day 1. Total distance 11.5 km and back = 23 km.

Starting point Noordwoldervaart

From Wolvega go east on the N351 (direction Oosterwolde). Take the first road to the right. You'll pass the Kontermansbrug across the Linde. Then turn left and right again. In the village De Hoeve turn left, and just outside the village you come to a bridge across the Noordwoldervaart.

From here you go to the north. After a short distance you'll have to carry across a road, but there are good canoe-piers. Continue to the north until you reach the Linde. Turn right here and around the corner you come to the place where I turned around on the first day. Enter the inlet on your left and you can carry across the dam at the canoe-piers. From here it will be 5 km to the next road and except maybe for another paddler you'll see only pastures as there are no roads or houses anywhere near the river. Road N353 crosses the river here. There is a canoe-pier and a sign along the road marks the place as a starting-point for a canoe-trip. Beyond this point the real exploring begins as paddlers are expected to go the other way. On a summers-day there is no more than 15 cm of water and paddling becomes difficult. Just when you thing you should not go any further you reach a barrage. With some effort you can carry the canoe to the other side. Here the water is much deeper and paddling is easy. Almost 2 km further on you'll reach another barrage. On the left there is an interesting nature-preserve named Stuttebos. Here the original river-bed is restored and it looks very pretty. You must continue in the newly dug river, which goes straight east. It is only a short distance when canoeing becomes impossible after the next barrage.

GPS Het Wijde: Lat. 52.8462 Lon. 5.9778
GPS Kontermansbrug: Lat. 52.8854 Lon. 6.0698
GPS Noordwoldervaart near De Hoeve: Lat. 52.8897 Lon 6.0973

Lindevallei.

Starting point at the bridge at Het Wijde.

Lindevallei.

Portage near the Noordwoldervaart.

At the weir in the Noordwoldervaart.

De Linde once came to exist as a glacier river and it ran to the former Zuiderzee. It had its origin near Oosterwolde, but since the land consolidation in the 1960ties the ditch near Tronde is the official source. If the water level is good you can still reach this ditch by kayak, but you need to portage a couple of times. The ditch itself is behind a weir and there is too much overgrowth to navigate on it.
The Linde was of importance in the past as willows and woods were transported from Noordwolde. The prettiest part of the river is near the lake Het Wijde and to the east after the railroadbridge, the nature reserve Lindevallei.

Distances: