This walk will quickly take you to the Krieke Putten nature reserve with various pounds, water features where the water wells up from the sandy soils. On the beautiful Konings dyke you walk further in the direction of Fort Bedmar, where only part of the northwestern wall can still be seen.
Distance: 4.5 km.
Time: 1h15.
Grade: Easy.
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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Krieke Putten.
From the starting point you walk through the entrance of the sports park. Walk along the Clitexweg and the Opperstraat to the Kriekeputdreefje. You go along the Krieke Putten, a real natural gem, up to the Konings dyke. The Konings dyke was built after the Peace of Münster in 1648. With this treaty, the Eighty Years' War between the Netherlands and Spain ended. You continue past the place where Fort Bedmar used to be, this place is now a camping site. You reach the starting point again through the Kapelledreef and across the grounds of the De Sterre care institution and the Cantecleerhoeve petting zoo.
Download PDf for route description.
POI 1 - Krieke Putten.
The Krieke Putten are remnants of dyke breaches at the end of the 16th century. They are also known as the Weelkens. These weelkens were created in 1952 after a dike breach.
No additional information.
POI 2 - Fort Bedmar.
In the late 17th century, the French King Louis XIV sought power in the Low Countries. He encounters fierce resistance. The result is the Franco-Dutch war, but Flanders is also drawn into the conflict. The Spanish Marquis of Bedmar builds an extensive defensive line from Knokke to Kallo. The name of 'Camping Fort Bedmar' betrays that a fort once stood here. Today only part of the northwestern wall can be seen. Cobblestones in the road indicate the locations of the former canals. Not far from the Fort Bedmar is the 'Spanish Quarter'. This hamlet of Sint-Gillis-Waas is reminiscent of a Spanish fort that stood here during the Eighty Years' War, as a defense against the States.
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