Rode Klif Monument

The basis for the elevation in the landscape that you see here is the result of advancing glacial ice in the Pleistocene. The ice brought with it rocks from Scandinavia that were deposited here in present-day Friesland. The cliff itself was created later, by wave erosion from the Zuiderzee. The Red Cliff is 10.35 meters high. At the highest point you will find a monument in memory of the Battle of Warns in 1345.

The top stone bears the text 'leaver dea as slaef' (better dead than slave) as a reminder of the Battle of Warns. This was the battle between Count William IV of Holland and the Frisians on September 26, 1345. The Dutch knights were attacked by the local population near the village of Warns. They fled and unfortunately chose 'the hard earth', the road to the Red Cliff. The swampy landscape ensured that they, with their heavy armor, were crushed.

The Rod Klif is an ice age moraine and one of the few climbs on the bike path.