In one of twenty Dutch National Landscapes “Drents-Friese Wold”, plans are currently underway to enhance and restore natural and cultural historical values. As specific “silence” and “tourist” zones are planned, the managing organisation of the area would like to estimate the current visitor densities and behaviour in the area as a framework for further study. Students of the University of Groningen therefore carried out an experiment, in which visitors were equipped with GPS data loggers on a voluntary basis. A total of 138 groups completed their walks with a logger. When returning, visitors were asked to fill in a questionnaire on their experience of their route. Track logs were then combined into a spatial database and converted to visitor density maps. Results showed that nearly all respondents followed one of the eight signposted routes in the area, varying from 2 to 6 km in length. Other paths were hardly used and if so, only functioned as link from one to another signposted route. None of the respondents left the designated paths to roam freely through the nature reserve into the forest, apart from a large, open sand dune area. Here, people moved around more freely. The maps also showed that visitor density values were slightly higher near tourist facilities such as benches and picnic tables, but not near information panels. This was confirmed by the questionnaire results, in which visitors indicated not to read the panels. It could therefore be concluded that signposts in the area could be a very useful tool for regional planning issues such as natural area zoning.