The Vinkeveense Plassen is a nature and water sports area in the northwest of the Dutch province of Utrecht, northeast of the village of Vinkeveen. Other neighboring places are Baambrugge, Loenersloot, Wavre and Abcoude. Along the water is the A2 motorway and the N201 runs through the puddles.

Thanks to its central location in the Randstad, the Vinkeveense Plassen is a popular water sports area. There are many recreational facilities along and on the water; This way you can swim, sail, dive and water ski. There are several marinas on Vinkeveense Plassen with mooring places, water and power supplies, showers and restaurants.

The Vinkeveense Plassen are connected to the river Amstel. They were created from the Golden Age on the extraction of peat for Amsterdam. The current elongated islands are layers, they used to be used as drying fields for the still wet peat. After the peat was dredged away, peat puddles remained, formed by the draft holes, which became increasingly bigger due to the bank turning off. Much later, the underlying sand layer was dredged here and there. This sand was used for the construction of the A2 and Amsterdam-Zuidoost. As a result, the ponds reach a depth of 164 feet unprecedented in the Netherlands.

The area is managed by the Recreatieschap Vinkeveense Plassen and the municipalities of De Ronde Venen and Amsterdam. However, since Amsterdam decided in 2011 to withdraw from the partnership, the operation has become uncertain. At the beginning of 2014 the plan was launched to transfer the management to the Stichtse Groenlanden Recreation Board. Components of this plan are the sale of a number of islands to private individuals and an investment in the maintenance of millions of islands.

Also see

• Botshol
• Loosdrechtse Plassen
• Ouderkerkerplas