Walking time measured on the mapped line (TrailSplits time model, moving time; within 22 % on four in five test legs). Outside Switzerland our walking times often run short of the times route operators publish; treat them as optimistic. Climb measured on the mapped line, on terrain heights.
17.2 kmStage distance
< 50 mAscent, measured
3 h 57Walking time, measured
19Stage number
To Isselburg: 17.2 km.
Best season: All year. Wandelnet and Nivon give no season: the path is waymarked in both directions and can be walked all year. Some stretches by rivers and on grass paths are not passable dry-shod at high water or after heavy rain (stages 9, 10, 15, 18 and 20), so autumn to spring is when you are likelier to meet them. Nivon's house Den Broam on stage 14 keeps its huts open almost all year. Before you go
Bocholt to Isselburg
Loading topographic map…
Flat (<5%)
Green: Bocholt to Isselburg. Grey: full trail. Elevation follows this mapped track.
Facts read from the guide's sources and OpenStreetMap on 13 October 2026. A page can change after we read it, so confirm with your accommodation before you rely on a date or a bed.
Stage start
Bocholt
Town
The stage ends on the edge of Bocholt, a German town: its centre, about 2.3 km on, is where the beds are. TrailSplits has not checked them.
A town or village: find accommodation yourself. TrailSplits has not checked what is open.
Stage end · overnight
Isselburg
Town
A small German town; the stage ends in its centre. TrailSplits has not checked rooms here.
A town or village: find accommodation yourself. TrailSplits has not checked what is open.
No booking is needed to walk the Noaberpad. Nivon's stage maps list campsites, its own house Den Broam on stage 14, and cafés and restaurants, but no hotels: book every night directly with the host. Where a stage ends outside a town, the beds are in the town: Ter Apel (about 1 km), Losser (2.4 km), Haaksbergen (2.9 km) and Bocholt (2.3 km). In Enschede, Bocholt, Isselburg, Terborg, Kleve and Milsbeek we list no stays: find your own before you set off. Stage 16 ends at the pension Saalmann, which we could not confirm takes guests.
Bad Nieuweschans to Milsbeek
Wandelnet's and Nivon's 23 stages, a night at the end of each.
Groningen, Drenthe, the Vechte in Germany and Twente in 13 stages, from Bad Nieuweschans station to the south-east of Enschede, about 4 km from its station.
Typical weather on this stage, around 17–31 m. Select a month to see why it is rated as it is.
Monthly climate averages and daylight
Month
Weather
Mixed
Mixed
Good
Good
Good
Good
Good
Good
Good
Good
Good
Mixed
Day / night
6°/1°
7°/1°
11°/3°
15°/5°
19°/9°
22°/12°
24°/13°
23°/13°
19°/10°
15°/7°
10°/4°
6°/2°
Rain, mm
67
55
55
40
59
68
78
78
71
68
65
76
Snow at high point
Possible
Possible
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
Frost
Daylight
8 h 16
9 h 55
11 h 46
13 h 49
15 h 36
16 h 40
16 h 16
14 h 43
12 h 45
10 h 46
8 h 53
7 h 49
Source: TerraClimate 1991–2020 monthly averages. Averages for the area at each point’s elevation (4 km grid, corrected for height). Not a forecast or a report of current trail conditions. Snow at the high point is estimated with a simple snowpack model from these temperatures and precipitation, not observed; steep islands and high summits can hold more snow than it shows. Daylight is for the 15th of each month. Hut, transport and park seasons are separate: check them for your dates.
Before you go
Prepare for the Noaberpad
Arrange your stays, food and travel first, then check conditions again near departure.
Stage 7: the route change into Weiteveen
Nivon lists a route change south of the Zuidersloot on stage 7 (read 13 October 2026): the path now runs along a footpath beside the Dordseweg (N862) to the Zuidersloot crossing at Weiteveen, and it is waymarked. Our line and GPX follow it, as in Nivon's GPX of 16 May 2026, round a Bargerveen path that OpenStreetMap marks closed for works until August 2027; the closed path is not on our line. An older guidebook or file still shows the old way: follow the waymarks.
Nivon lists a diversion for works at the Buurserbeek, about 1 km into stage 15 (read 13 October 2026): after the bridge go straight on, then left on the Welmerweg, right on the Schapendrift and left on the Kalkdijk; walking north, take the Schansweg back to the bridge. Nivon gives no dates or GPX and does not say it is signed. Our line keeps the usual route there: follow the diversion and any signs on the ground.
Nivon's list, read 13 October 2026, has five weather-dependent diversions, none waymarked: by the Vechte at Hoogstede (stage 9) and at Esche (stage 10) at high water, at Bekendelle on the Boven Slinge at high water and the ford on the Weg om Ros en Lintum after heavy rain (stage 18), the grass path at Engbergen after heavy rain (stage 20), and the wet-weather alternative from the Peddedijk to the border footbridge (stage 15). Our line keeps the usual route: print Nivon's route descriptions and maps before you go.
Nivon's stage maps (read 13 October 2026) list campsites and cafés, not hotels. Several stages end outside a town: the beds are in Ter Apel (about 1 km), Losser (2.4 km), Haaksbergen (2.9 km) and Bocholt (2.3 km). We list no stays in Enschede, Bocholt, Isselburg, Terborg, Kleve or Milsbeek; and stage 16 ends at the pension Saalmann, which we could not confirm. Den Broam, the Nivon's house on stage 14, takes online bookings.
Stage 5 has many restrictions for dogs, so Wandelnet has a separate waymarked dog route for it (20.2 km), and the Wooldse Veen on stage 17 is closed to dogs, Wandelnet says (read 13 October 2026).
The Noaberpad is waymarked white and red in both directions. Wandelnet's route-change page (read 13 October 2026) sends walkers to Nivon's list, which is the one to check before you set off.
Google Maps journey searches, not confirmed services. A mountain endpoint may need a booked transfer or an additional walk.
To the start at Bad Nieuweschans
The trail starts at Bad Nieuweschans station, on the German border. Or start from Emmen station: Wandelnet's 11.1 km approach route walks past a hunebed to Oosterbos, where it joins stage 7.
Nivon's maps name trains at Oldenzaal (near stage 12), Glanerbrug and Enschede (stages 13 and 14), Winterswijk (to Arnhem and Zutphen), Bocholt (the RE19 to Wesel), Terborg (to Arnhem and Winterswijk) and Elten (to Zevenaar and Arnhem). Buses run from Bocholt (the X80 to Vreden and Bad Bentheim), Isselburg (to Bocholt and Rees) and Kleve (Breng's 58 to Emmerich and Nijmegen).
Prepare each stage while you still have a connection, and keep Nivon's high-water diversion maps for stages 9, 10, 18 and 20 with you.
Keep your route and maps on your phone for places without a signal. For multi-day trips, prepare them in the installed TrailSplits app.
Open this trail in the app.Install TrailSplits, then open this trail there. On iPhone, downloads in a browser may not be available in the installed app.
Choose your route or stages. Choose Prepare offline above. Wait for the route and maps to finish downloading.
Try it before leaving coverage. Switch offline, close and reopen the app, then use My Hikes to start navigation. Repeat for every part you will need.
Saving a bookmark is not a map download. Storage can be cleared by your device; keep a backup map for remote trips.
Route & sources
Route map & sources
Wandelnet lists the Noaberpad as long-distance path LAW 10, and the route's owner, Nivon Natuurvrienden, publishes the same 23 stages from Bad Nieuweschans on the German border to Milsbeek; the stage pages add up to 459.5 km. Wandelnet publishes no stage times, only each stage's length, so the times here are measured on our line. The line here is the route on OpenStreetMap (the Noaberpad superroute, relation 1537463, and its 23 stage relations, from the planet of 11 October 2026): 456.2 km, cut where the stage relations meet. Every stage is within 0.2 km of Wandelnet's figure except stage 7: 26.0 km on our line against 28.5 km, because our line follows Nivon's signed, waymarked route change south of the Zuidersloot into Weiteveen (its GPX of 16 May 2026), round a Bargerveen path that OpenStreetMap marks closed for works until August 2027; the closed path is not on our line. On stage 15 our line keeps the usual route past the Buurserbeek works, where Nivon lists a diversion: follow any signs there. Wandelnet also lists stages beyond Milsbeek; this guide ends at Milsbeek, the end of stage 23. The approach route from Emmen station, the 4.8 km loop round the Bourtange fortress and the dog route for stage 5 are not drawn here. Our climb is measured on terrain heights.
Official guidance and mapped-source comparison checked 13 October 2026. Map data is a route reference, not confirmation of today's path, weather or accommodation availability.