The best traffic-free bike rides around Natural Park Esterweger Dose

This is a proper wide bike path. Always along the canal.

Did you know that a sufficient water level was essential for the once busy shipping traffic on the fen canals? Therefore, locks, also called "Verlaate," were built. These prevented the tides from influencing the inner canal system and ensured that ships always had sufficient water under their keels. Ostrhauderfehn once had two important locks: one at the end of the main fen canal near the former "Verlaatshus" (a former barn) and another at the 1st South Bay, which maintained the water level in the upper fen area. However, in the 1950s, both locks were removed and replaced with brick weirs. In 1990, a historic box lock was rebuilt at the end of the main fen canal as part of the "Fehn Program." This modern lock system is equipped with double flood and ebb gates and can accommodate ships and pleasure craft up to 55 meters long and 5.4 meters wide. Thanks to this innovation, Ostrhauderfehn once again has a direct connection to East Frisia's extensive inland waterway network! This lock is often mistakenly called the Holterfehn Lock. This lock is also located directly on the tour route and is easily accessible. Several benches are available, inviting you to listen to the sound of the water.

For centuries, floods and flood disasters have repeatedly occurred in the river valleys, especially in spring and autumn. Storm surges pushed enormous volumes of water from the North Sea into the rivers, often resulting in flooding lasting weeks. The damage to agriculture was enormous. Until the first half of the last century, attempts to control the water overload with wind-dependent water pumping mills were unsuccessful. Only the construction of the Leda Barrage near Leer in 1954 and the associated reorganization of drainage in the Leda-Jümme area brought a sustainable solution. Today, modern pumping stations with powerful, electronically controlled pumps ensure a constant water level in the lowland areas, some of which lie below sea level.

"The central point of the tour is the turning harbor or turning basin." After an adventurous bike ride, you can enjoy a relaxing coffee break on the upper deck and take in the view of the surroundings. It's hard to imagine that half a century ago, where cars now roar across the busy intersection, ships with brown sails made their way. Three fen canals once met here: the Untenende, the 1. Südwieke, and the 1. Ostwieke, but the latter was filled in the 1980s. Instead of crossing the water, a federal highway now runs over the canal bed. At this important crossing point, two large drawbridges once stood, and there was the opportunity to go shopping or stop off at an inn. Just a stone's throw away, a small shipyard built and repaired wooden mastheads and tjalks. The neighboring blacksmith shop also manufactured fittings for the ships and peat digging equipment. The past seems long gone, but sometimes, when a lovingly restored tjalk moors in the turning basin, a touch of nostalgia wafts over this tranquil place, reminding us of times gone by.

A beautiful cycle path has been created here, where you can ride like on butter 😄

..great playground

Here you can take a great break on the Sagter Ems, which later becomes the Leda. The benches invite you to do so

This is the "Kloster Kuhle". The area is known locally as 'Kloster', in Saterland it is called "det Klaaster", named after the Johanniter monastery at that time. The Johanniter Chapel, about 250 meters further west of the Kuhle, also bears witness to the time, around 1350.