Venekotensee

The Venekotensee is a former gravel pit that has transformed into a lake of roughly 11.5 hectares on the edge of the Maas-Schwalm-Nette Nature Park, close to the small river Schwalm in the Lower Rhine region of North Rhine-Westphalia. Reclaimed gravel pits like this are a defining feature of the local landscape: once extraction ends, groundwater floods the basin and within decades a naturalistic lake with reed-fringed banks and birdlife takes shape. The area around the lake offers easy walking and cycling routes through the quiet countryside between Viersen and Brüggen.