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Demmerik route In may 2006 I walked the Demmerik route. A by the ANWB signposted walkingroute of 12 kilometer starting in Vinkeveen. The name Demmerik is coming from Deenmercken and is probably pointing at the Danish Vikings who colonised the area in the 10th and 11th century. The route starts at the old railroadstation of Vinkeveen. It was years ago since a train stopped here. The last train with people came in 1950 and in 1986 the last cargotrain used the track. Now 20 years later the old railroadtrack is an ideal walkingpath. One can walk for over 30 minutes through the green fields next to Vinkeveen. The path is lined with trees. At the tarmac road go right into this road. It isn't long until you see a signpost pointing to the left into a narrow path. This is the Demmerikse Kade, an old dike from the first peatwinning here. Peat was won to use as fuel. This all started around the year 1000. The narrow dike is also lined with green trees. Watch where you place your feeth, because there were some nasty holes in the soft ground. At the end of the dike we go left onto the tarmac road. A long straight road between meadows filled with cows. Pass a road to the left and soon you will see a nice path to your right. It is called Bosdijk. An area of 20 acres filled with fishing ponds and recreation fields. The first road to the right is the Veenkade. And again we walk on a small path surrounded by green meadows. Green is definitely the color of this route. At the end of this road we go right onto the tarmac. A disappointment, a wide tarmac road with a seperate cyclingpath. Ofcourse we walk on the cyclingpath, but it is a large contrast to the small paths we have seen so far. At your right hand you see the recreation area Donkereindse Bos. When i passed there were several people fishing in the fishing ponds. First road right into Donkereind. A traditional long road with houses along it. This dates back to the peatwinning time, when the houses were build on the dikes and the peat was dug out behind the dike. The Donkereind becomes Demmerik and after some time you will see the railroadstation of Vinkeveen. It was a very nice walk, but i would advise to walk in the other direction (not signposted though), or start at the recreation area Donkereindse Bos. In both cases the route ends with the nice narrow green paths without traffic. The ANWB has some dutch info about the route. Here is a pdf file (in dutch). More about tourism in Vinkeveen: http://www.vvvhollandsmidden.nl/ , the website of the VVV (touristinfo). Click on the small pictures to see the larger version.