Bergen op Zoom in the Netherlands is one of my favourite hiking areas. Once I started with the Southern Waterline trail, I already found out that the city and its surroundings are very beautiful and versatile. I also often came across the yellow-red markings of a regional trail. I wanted to start a regional trail for some time and the Brabantse Wal trail turned out to be an excellent first introduction. In any case, it tastes like more.
Since it is too much to describe every hike on this path in a separate blog, I decided to create a summary.
I now find out that the regional trail has been discontinued and parts of it will later become part of a reconstruction of the Dukes Trail (long distance trail Hertogenpad). Unfortunately, the trail can no longer be viewed online and the path is no longer maintained. Of course, if you own the trail guide, you can still follow this path. I completed this trail just in time! Nevertheless, I do want to dedicate a blog to it, because I think it is a beautiful trail!
Versatile Bergen op Zoom
A regional path is a long circular hike in a specific region in the Netherlands. They vary in length between 80 and 350 km. So you cannot walk them in one day. There are no less than 21 and you can find them all on the Wandelnet website. The regional trails can be recognised by their yellow-red markings. The most recent regional trail added to the list is the Betuwe trail. This one is definitely on my hiking list.
The Brabantse Wal trail is a circular path through and around the city of Bergen op Zoom, which lies in the very south-west of the province of North Brabant. The path is 112 kilometres long.
Other trail guide about region West-Brabant
A number of LAWs (Long Distance Trails) and GRs (Great Routes) go through the same area and the trail guide includes these sections as additional trails. My intention was to follow only the regional trail with the occasional deviation via a GR, but I ended up walking both the entire regional trail and all the additional parts. This way, I did the entire trail in a kind of pie chart. Hence also my choice to make the illustration for this blog in a circle with four squares.
The trail was easily accessible by public transport. Often Bergen op Zoom railway station was my starting or finishing point.
You can divide the city and surroundings of Bergen op Zoom into four landscapes. In my illustration at the top of the page, you can see these landscapes reflected:
- City: the trail starts at the Markiezenhof and then goes around the Binnenschelde lake, overlooking the Markiezaat lake as well. I found this a very nice start to the trail. Illustration: Prison Gate in Bergen op Zoom.
- Low clay lands: the trail then heads north and east through the lowlands, with lots of fields, creeks and nice grassy paths. You also encounter remnants of the Southern Waterline (defence line system). You walk through small towns such as Steenbergen, Moerstraten and Wouw. Illustration: lovely grassy path along a creek near Steenbergen.
- High sand grounds: this, of course, is where the path owes its name to: the Brabantse Wal. You pass through vast forests, past fens, sand dunes and through open heathland with occasional large differences in altitude. You pass close to the border with Belgium. You walk quite a bit through the Dutch part of National Park Border park Kalmthoutse Heide. Illustration: Purple heather in the Ossendrecht Dunes nature reserve.
- Markiezaat: the valley along the Markiezaat lake. In the distance, you can see the steep edge of the Brabantse Wal. If you deviate briefly from the trail, you can take a look at nature reserve Kraaijenberg with breathtaking views over the Markiezaat where you can also encounter herds of wild horses. Also worth a visit is Mattemburgh Estate. Illustration: view of the Markiezaat from watchtower Kraaijenberg.
Best parts of this regional trail are (see photos later on in this blog):
- 1. Bergen op Zoom: through the centre of Bergen op Zoom, along the Markiezaat lake and around the Binnenschelde lake (maps 1, 2 and 3 from trail guide).
- 2. Bergen op Zoom – Halsteren: beautiful parks in Bergen op Zoom, Fort de Roovere with Moses Bridge and Pompei Tower (map A1, A2 and A3 via GR5, plus map 4 from trail guide).
- 9. Huijbergen – Putte: National Park Border Park Kalmthoutse Heide and Ossendrecht Dunes (maps 15, 16 and 17 from trail guide).
- 11. Ossendrecht – Bergen op Zoom: woods, sand dunes and fens around Huijbergen and Lievensberg near Bergen op Zoom (map E1, E2 and E3 via GR12 from trail guide).
- 13. Bergen op Zoom – Woensdrecht: Markiezaat, Kraaijenberg nature reserve and Mattemburgh Estate (map F via LAW11, plus maps 23 and 22 from trail guide).
Every trail also has a less pleasant part and in this case that was the section between Halsteren and Steenbergen (map 5 from the trail guide), through the towns of Lepelstraat (Spoonstreet) and Klutsdorp (Klutch town). Very nice place names, but not much else. The towns seem to be cut off from the outside world by the construction of the A4 motorway. There are several bus stops, but no bus stops here anymore. Something had also happened personally: my relationship broke up the day before and I thought I’d catch my breath by going for a hike. That wasn’t a good idea, and the boring trail didn’t help either. In short: a sad situation.
Sections and photos
I did the trail in a total of 13 sections over a period of about 2 years. Below are all the sections I followed, with the maps from the trail guide, the number of kilometres, the rating I give to them, and with the best matching photos.
1. Bergen op Zoom – Binnenschelde and Markiezaat lake(13,5 km) – ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Map 1, 2 and 3 from trail guide.
2. Bergen op Zoom – Halsteren (16 km) – ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Map A1 and A2 via GR5, plus map 4 from trail guide.
3. Halsteren – Steenbergen (4,5 km) – ⭐
Map 5 from trail guide, I didn’t make any photos.
4. Steenbergen – Moerstraten (15 km) – ⭐⭐⭐
Map 6, 7, 8 and 9 from trail guide.
5. Wouw – Moerstraten – Bergen op Zoom (16,5 km) – ⭐⭐⭐
Map 10 and 9 (in opposite direction), plus map B3 via LAW 1-3 Floris V trail from trail guide.
6. Wouw – Wouwse Plantage (10,5 km) – ⭐⭐⭐ and 7. Wouwse Plantage – Bergen op Zoom (8,5 km) – ⭐⭐⭐
Map 11 and 12 (section 6), and kaart C1 via LAW11 Borderland trail (section 7) from trail guide.
8. Bergen op Zoom – Wouwse Plantage – Huijbergen (18 km) – ⭐⭐⭐
Map D2 and D1 via GR5 (in opposite direction), and map 13 and 14 from trail guide.
9. Huijbergen – Putte (15,5 km) – ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Map 15, 16 and 17 from trail guide.
10. Putte – Ossendrecht (11,5 km) – ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Map 18, 19 and 20 from trail guide.
11. Ossendrecht – Huijbergen – Bergen op Zoom (24 km) – ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Map 20 and map E1, E2 and E3 via GR12 from trail guide.
12. Ossendrecht – Woensdrecht (12,5 km) – ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Map 20, 21 and 22 from trail guide.
NB: I got off the bus in Ossendrecht at the wrong bus stop. At bus stop Postbaan, while I should have been at bus stop Trambaan (Postbaan-Trambaan, tomato-tomato 🤷🏻♀️). Via my own trail I got there after all, and also picked up a nice little path (see photo 1).
13. Bergen op Zoom – Woensdrecht – (13,5 km) – ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Map F1 via LAW11 Borderland trail, and map 23 and 22 (in opposite direction) from trail guide.
Final thoughts
It is a great pity that the regional path Branbantse Wal has been discontinued, because I think it is a wonderful circular trail. I really enjoyed the city of Bergen op Zoom and the various nature reserves around the city.
Unfortunately, I cannot refer to the trail online; fortunately, this region has many more hiking trails and other activities to offer. For example, check out the websites of Natuurmonumenten, Brabants Landschap, Zuiderwaterlinie (Southern Waterline), Staatsbosbeheer and VVV Brabantse Wal. At the Klavervelden just outside Bergen op Zoom, several long-distance trails and Great Routes cross each other:
- LAW1-3 – Floris V trail
- LAW11 – Borderline trail
- GR5 – North Sea – Mediterranean Sea
- GR12 – Amsterdam – Paris
I completed the entire trail on 29 March 2024. I give the overall walk a 4 star rating, a Super Hike – ⭐⭐⭐⭐ that is!
I have now started the next regional trail: the Green Heart trail (regional trail 12). This trail has recently been revamped and makes a round trip of over 200 km through the Green Heart, the green zone between the big cities of the west of the Netherlands.
More summaries
I have already completed a long distance trail and all 42 trails from a trail guide about, yet again, the Green Heart. You can find the blogs I about these below.
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