Starting point Heerhugowaard station

Did you know that this spot, in the middle of Heerhugowaard, was once a large lake? Peat extraction and storm surges made this lake, known as the Grote Waert, ever larger. To prevent the North Sea from swallowing the whole area, Lord Huygen and the monks of Egmond built a long dyke in the thirteenth century. This Huygendijk later made it possible to drain the Grote Waert in 1631. Locally, the new land was called Heer Huyge Waert, later corrupted to Heerhugowaard. You can now live, work and … walk here.

One route starts here. Tag on connecting routes to make your walk longer.

• The Western Waert Route (orange) follows the western edge of the reclaimed land. You walk beside the Alkmaar (Omval)–Kolhorn Canal and the new marina for visiting boats. The sustainable Stad van de Zon district, with its many solar panels, contrasts sharply with the seventeenth-century polder and Heerhugowaard’s oldest streets, Middenweg and Stationsweg. Several listed farms and houses on these streets still remain. An attractive circular walk offering impressions of both present and past.

• The Heerhugopad (blue-red) runs to Obdam in three stages. In the footsteps of Lord Huygen, it takes you to hidden places unknown even to many Heerhugowaard locals.