This varied walk goes through the beautiful nature reserve Zoersel forest with a unique landscape for the Kempen, where the grasslands are bordered by wood edges. This landscape is interspersed with age-old oak forests and softwood. What do monks and Hendrik Consciense have to do with this beautiful area?
Distance: 13 km.
Time: 3h30.
Grade: Moderate.
Type: Circular.
Gps Track: Yes.
Route description: Yes.
Wheelchair: Not suitable.
Dog: Allowed.
Height gain: Flat.
Trail: Paved and unpaved.
Marking: Walking nodes.
Hiking shoes recommended.
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In the footsteps of The Loteling.
The walk starts at the Kikkerpad and continues along the Emmapad to the Hooidonkse Beemden. We owe this unique landscape to a large extent to the former Saint Bernardus abbey of Hemiksem. Tidal streams were built on the banks of the Tappel brook where an ingenious system of dams and dikes flooded the lands in winter, making the soils more fertile. From the meadows you walk further in the direction of the visitor center 't Boshuisje. Hendrik Conscience situated his novel De Loteling in the Boshuisje, where the main characters Jen and Trien would have lived. From the visitor center it continues in the direction of the Zoersel forest with hundreds of years old forest drives. The oaks that are there are still planted by monks from the abbey of Hemiksem. Along the edge of Schriek forest you walk back to the starting point.
Download PDF for nodes to follow.
You can also shorten the route to a walk of 8 km - see PDF Route descripton.
The paths can be quite soggy.
POI 2 - 't Boshuisje.
The Boshuisje is a former forester's house built around 1800. Shortly after the first world war, it became known as the Loteling's cottage from the book of the same name by Hendrik Conscience. Now it is a visitor center with a farmer's flower garden where you can learn more about Hendrik Consience and the Zoersel forest.
Visitor Center Zoerselbos.
www.zoerselbos.be.
POI 1 - Zoersel forest.
In 1233, the Duke of Brabant donated this "never-cleared forest" to the Villers abbey. It could never be cleared so that the duke could continue to hunt there. Now, most of it is an important Flemish nature reserve. Five Hendrik Conscience books are set in the Zoerselbos. The Zoerselbos is largely spread over the municipality of Zoersel and for a small part over Zandhoven. Unique for this Kempen nature reserve is the meadows, where the grasslands are bordered by wood edges. The Zoersel forest developed well over the years. You get a wide range of vegetation types on a relatively small surface. Age-old oak forests and mature softwood alternate with grasslands, heathland and species-rich transition areas. Characteristic of the Zoersel forest are the flowers on the banks of the Tappel stream. Fluid people are a medieval agricultural system that has been developed, improved and maintained over centuries by the Cistercians, a monastic order from the 12th century. Through drains, they flood the entire area in the winter in a controlled manner, as a kind of "natural" fertilization of the meadows. The old medieval structure with historic façades is still clearly present in the Zoerselbos. The four façades have been protected as a monument since 1992. Did you know that the Zoersel forest is a literary forest? The Antwerp writer Hendrik Conscience (1812-1883) regularly came to get inspiration in the Zoersel forest. The Wonderjaar (1836), History of Count Hugo Van Craenhove and his friend Abulfaragus (1845), De Loteling (1849) and De Duivel from the Snangenbos (1889) all take place in or near Zoerselbos.
Natuur en Bos.
www.natuurenbos.be.
