Barbierbeek

Details: Parent Category: Province of East Flanders; Category: East Flanders - Walks; Last Updated: 01 March 2022; Hits: 661

This walking route goes along the northern part of the Polders van Kruibeke. Here ebb and flow gets free rein, part of the area is flooded every day. You go through a landscape of mud flats and salt marshes, alder forest and meadows. On the connecting piece between the Scheldt and the ring dike you will certainly spot bite marks from beavers.

Barbierbeekroute

Barbierbeekroute

Distance: 8.5 km

Duration: 2h00

Grade: Easy

Gps track: Yes

Route description: Yes

Type: Circular

Height gain: Flat

Way mark: Hexagon with red inscription

Wheelchair: Not suitable

Dog: Allowed on a leach

Barbierbeek.

This walk takes you to the northern part of the Polders van Kruibeke, Flanders largest flood area. 60 hectares of polders have been transformed into a unique nature reserve with a varied landscape of mud flats and salt marshes, forests and meadows. The Barbierbeek, which runs right through the polders, gave its name to the route. From the church you walk to the ring dike, which protects the residential cores of Kruibeke, Bazel and Rupelmonde. The dike ensures that the incoming Scheldt water remains within the boundaries of the controlled flood area. The former sand storage for the construction of the ring dike was transformed in 2012 into the nature reserve Het Kortboek. Two fish ponds are central, and numerous water birds can be observed quietly via a bird watching wall. Nearby is the Altena castle, a 16th century moated castle that now has a social purpose. Along the Scheldt, the old dike was given a new function as a floodable dike. When a violent northwestern storm coincides with the spring tide, the top of the storm wave flows over the dike. So-called "drainage structures" in the dike ensure that, once the flood hazard has passed, the river water flows back to the Scheldt.