The Pieterpad is a long distance walking route in the Netherlands. The trail runs from Pieterburen, in the northern part of Groningen, south through the eastern part of the Netherlands to end just south of Maastricht, on the top of Mount Saint Peter (St Pietersberg), at a height of . The Pieterpad is one of the official Long Distance Paths in the Netherlands (Lange Afstand Wandelpad Nummer 9) and by far the most popular of its long distance walking routes. It is possible to walk the route in either direction, and throughout the year. It is well signposted, and is well served by public transport and accommodation throughout its length. The official guide book is in two volumes, Pieterburen-Vorden and Vorden-Maastricht.Pieterpad, Nivon Publishing http://www.nivon.nl (see Wandelen/Gidsen en Kaarten) A dedicated website (in Dutch) also gives updated accommodation details.Pieterpad website: http://www.pieterpad.nl/ Although the walking is always easy and never remote, it is a varied and often beautiful walk, passing through woods, polders, heathland, and numerous small Dutch villages.
History The trail was the idea of Toos Goorhuis-Tjalsma (1915-2004) living in Tilburg, in the south of the Netherlands and her friend Bertje Jens (1913-2009) living in Groningen in the north of the Netherlands. They came up with the idea to design a rambling route between their hometowns, later re-organised between the far north to the far south. The route has been officially open since 1983.
Stages The route of the Pieterpad is described in the following stages: 1 Pieterburen Winsum 12 km 2 Winsum Groningen 19 km 3 Groningen Zuidlaren 21 km 4 Zuidlaren Rolde 18 km 5 Rolde Schoonloo 18 km 6 Schoonloo Sleen 24 km 7 Sleen Coevorden 21 km 8 Coevorden Hardenberg 19 km 9 Hardenberg Ommen 21 km 10 Ommen Hellendoorn 21 km 11 Hellendoorn Holten 16 km 12 Holten Laren 15 km 13 Laren Vorden 13 km 14 Vorden Zelhem 17 km 15 Zelhem Braamt 18 km 16 Braamt Millingen aan de Rijn 24 km 17 Millingen Groesbeek 20 km 18 Groesbeek Gennep 14 km 19 Gennep Vierlingsbeek 19 km 20 Vierlingsbeek Swolgen 22 km 21 Swolgen Venlo 21 km 22 Venlo Swalmen 23 km 23 Swalmen Montfort 21 km 24 Montfort Sittard 24 km 25 Sittard Strabeek (Valkenburg) 22 km 26 Strabeek Sint-Pietersberg 17 km
The Pieterpad connects to the international trails E9 at its northern end in Pieterburen and the GR5 at its southern end and crosses the E11 in Oldenzaal and the E8 in Nijmegen. It follows the European walking GR5, which is also part of trail E2. The GR5, which runs through the Ardennes to Nice and the French Alps, is one of the most popular international trails for hikers.
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