In this part of the Southern Waterline trail, I first walk in Klundert towards the Groenstrook (Green Strip) to walk the bit I skipped last time. Then I go a full round through the lovely fortified town via the normal trail. After Klundert, I continue across the Moerdijk industrial area and along the Zevenbergseweg to my hometown of Zevenbergen.
This time on the Southern Waterline trail, I take extensive time to see the beautiful fortified town of Willemstad. After Willemstad, I walk to the next fortified town: Klundert.
Today I start again in Dinteloord, but this time I walk in the other direction, towards Willemstad. I pass two forts of the Southern Waterline: Fort de Hel (the Hell) and Fort Sabina. I end my hike in fortified town Willemstad. No, not on the island of Curaçao, but in the province of North Brabant in the Netherlands.
This time I hike the Southern Waterline trail in the Netherlands in the opposite direction. It is difficult to get very early to the village of De Heen, where I ended last time. It’s easier to go to Dinteloord instead. My plan is to add a trail from Natuurmonumenten at the Dintelse Gorzen to my trail. The Southern Waterline trail only goes past it. A good time to walk an extra detour through this area.
I divided the trail of the Southern Waterline between Halsteren and Steenbergen in the Netherlands into two parts, so that I could make a side trip to Blauwe Sluis. This place is outside the trail, but worthwhile for a visit because of the longest picnic bench and fishing jetty in the Netherlands, as well as bird watching hut de Roode Weel. The first part goes from Halsteren to the outskirts of Steenbergen and the second part from Blauwe Sluis to Fort Henricus and town of De Heen.
A new adventure has begun: the Southern Waterline hiking trail. In this blog, you can read all about the section between Bergen op Zoom and Halsteren in the Netherlands.
Today is the big day: I will complete my first long-distance hiking trail in the Netherlands. Well, the Dutch part, because the Great rivers trail goes even further into Germany towards Kleve. I start in Nijmegen and leave the great rivers behind me. I seek higher ground in the fantastic Berg and Dal region. My finish line is at the Duivelsberg (Devil’s Mountain), where long distance trail 16 the Roman Limespad also ends.
Already a week after my previous hike on the Great rivers trail, I return to Herveld-Zuid. I can almost see the finish line. Unfortunately, the trail takes an unexpected turn. From Herveld, I hike the original trail from the booklet via Slijk-Ewijk, Oosterhout and Lent to Nijmegen. Only halfway along the trail I find out that there is a diversion….
It is once again time for a hike on the Great rivers trail. Moreover, I want to complete all parts of this path on Dutch soil this year (2021). So the upcoming blogs are all about this long-distance trail. This time, I have combined two shorter sections (of about 11 km) into one blog post. Two separate blog posts seemed a bit redundant. These two sections go from Ochten to Hemmen and from Hemmen to Herveld-Zuid. All sorts of towns that mean nothing to me beforehand and which are all located near great river the Waal.
The heather season has not yet ended at the beginning of September (2021), so I am hiking another part of the Migration birds trail in the Netherlands. I travel to Baarn and have several options for the finish line: Hollandsche Rading, Lage Vuursche or perhaps Soesterberg. As you can see from the title, it has become Hollandsche Rading. On the way, I have been busy photographing the many mushrooms, heather and other flora and fauna. So the hike is not very long this time.
