Etappe 8

So, the plan was simple: do this stage on a Saturday, stay a night at Natuurkampeerterrein De Klashorst, and walk two etappes back-to-back. That didn’t happen.

A week before, one of us had a football accident, and the legs simply weren’t ready for two full stages. So we changed plans and drove straight to the campsite instead in the afternoon and settled for one etappe.

The campsite itself sits in the park, and the setting is genuinely lovely. We ended up doing a slow evening walk through the surrounding forest: quiet paths, beautiful area, and the campsite is clean and well kept.

We stayed in trekkershut 1. In hindsight, I’d recommend choosing one of the other huts (if without dog you have many more options). This one faces directly onto the camping area, so there’s very little privacy. It has a small kitchenette, but otherwise the facilities are quite basic. The electric heater is… optimistic at best. With temperatures dropping to around 3°C at night, it was a cold night on a rock hard bed. Overall, fine for a quick sleep, but I found it quite expensive for what it offers. The campsite itself is great, the hut just didn’t quite match it.

Anyway, back to the Pieterpad.

We took the train from Hardenberg, which runs frequently (even on Sundays), there’s a train every 20 minutes to Coevorden. Convenient, although we did notice there wasn’t a single coffee-to-go place open on Sunday.

From there, the stage begins. It opens with some nice forest paths, which feel like a welcome contrast after earlier exposed days. But that doesn’t last forever, the route also moves through long, open stretches where the sun hits hard. We were lucky with full sunshine, but it did make the day feel warm and required quite a few stops to keep going comfortably.

One of the highlights came in Gramsbergen. Just as you enter the village, there’s a large terrace that’s hard to miss- and worth not missing. Good beer, simple lunch, and exactly the kind of break you need halfway through.

After that, the landscape turns again: a mix of bushy sections and open farmland. It’s a varied day, but not particularly memorable overall. A solid stage, some nice moments, but nothing that really stands out compared to others along the route.

Lessons learned:

🚌 Transport tip: Very convenient, easy to go by without a car

☕ Food tip: Plenty options in Gramsbergen

🌲 Mood: Mixed nature.