Veenpark, in Barger-Compascuum east of Emmen, is an open-air museum about peat extraction and life in the Drenthe peat colonies. Reconstructed workers' houses, village streets, tools, and narrow-gauge railway rides make the landscape's hard history easier to grasp than a panel in a standard museum.
This is the best place near Emmen to understand why the surrounding countryside looks the way it does. It pairs well with a bicycle ride through the villages, though the museum itself needs a few hours.