Pieterpad Receives Marked Terminus After Forty Years: A Must-Visit Selfie Spot in Maastricht

After forty years, the 500-kilometre long Pieterpad has a clearly marked terminus for the first time. Administrator Natuurmonumenten has set up a “finish spot” at the ENCI quarry in Maastricht, writes 1Limburg.

The Pieterpad is the most popular long-distance walking route in the Netherlands. Most walkers walk the Pieterpad from north to south, or from Pieterburen in Groningen to Sint-Pietersberg in Maastricht. Tens of thousands of people take the plunge each year, usually in stages.

For about 33 years, the end of the route was in an anonymous, clearing near Sint-Pietersberg. In 2016, the terminus was already moved to the ENCI quarry, but without a clear marking. There was a sign and a pole, but they were sometimes overlooked. According to Natuurmonumenten, many Pieterpad walkers thought that was a shame.

Natuurmonumenten has now had a picture frame designed and placed it on the finish line at the top of Sint-Pietersberg. In front of the list is a pole on which walkers can place their phones so they can take a picture of themselves at the finish.

The route was first walked between 1978 and 1983 – and therefore invented – by friends Toos Goorhuis-Tjalsma and Bertje Jens from Groningen. Since then, dozens of volunteers have ensured that the route and route signs remain up to date along the way.