VAM-mountain (Col du VAM) - Wijster

VAM was once a waste disposal company. The letters stand for Vuil Afvoer Maatschappij. The company was founded in 1929 to bring household waste from the Randstad to Drenthe, where it could compost. The compost could then be used for soil improvement, as Drenthe had poor soil. In practice, there was also a lot of waste among the rubbish that could not be composted. This was collected on a dump on the former VAM site. Today, you can no longer see anything of the waste, because the lump is covered with earth and grass, but it did create a new large hill in the otherwise flat Drenthe landscape: the VAM mountain.

At 63 metres above NAP, the mountain is the highest point in Drenthe and an important point in the cycling race the Ronde van Drenthe and is also called Col du VAM. Outside cycling events, the mountain is open to cyclists. Once at the top, you have great views of the surrounding area.

The VAM mountain is also a recommendation for mountain bikers. A challenging mountain bike trail has been laid out with lots of descents and climbs, a 300-metre-long decking and even a 60-metre-long floating water bridge!