Top 20 Lakes around Hoogstraten

The Bootjesven is one of the most famous and beautiful spots in Wortel-Kolonie 🌿. 📍What is the Bootjesven? • It is a natural fen, surrounded by pine forests and heathland, in the heart of the tranquility of the Colony. • The name refers to the "boats" of peat moss that float on the water, giving the surface a fairytale-like appearance. • The fen is a vulnerable nature reserve: special plants such as cotton grass and sundew grow there, and you often find dragonflies and waterfowl there. • It is part of the Merkske Valley, a European Natura 2000 protected area. 🌿 Experience for hikers and cyclists • The Bootjesven is located along several beautiful hiking trails that start from the De Klapekster Visitor Center. • It is an ideal place to take a break and enjoy the peace and quiet and nature. • Because it is a sensitive area, walking on designated paths and not allowing dogs off the leash is important for the preservation of this unique natural environment.

Going for a walk there again. The path along the Galdersedreef fen is impassable, a large swimming pool, ducks swam across the path. Let's hope that forest management will do something about this, because otherwise you will never be able to pass by there again, I'm afraid.

In the winter like now very wet. So you can easily paddle if you are unlucky. The fens are a bit bigger so to speak...

The Bootjesven is a fen that was created by extracting peat. Peat was extracted on a large scale in the entire Noorderkempen region between the middle of the 13th and the 18th century. Peat is dried peat that was dug from the marshy peat areas. The extracted peat was laid out to dry and then used as a raw material. This location is now a large body of water where it is wonderful to stay. You can cool off up to your knees and no further. Swimming is prohibited.

Went for a walk there a month ago, but the boardwalk and several parts of the fen were closed. And now with all this rain it certainly won't be good for a while. Maybe go for a walk there again next summer l.

A beautiful resting place in a beautiful natural setting. The food you bring with you tastes even better here and you can enjoy the nature and silence.😊 😀

If it has rained a lot or the water level is quite high, the boardwalk itself (and some paths in the area) may be partially flooded.

Forest, fens and flowery meadows characterise the Pannenhoef, a beautiful nature reserve between Etten-Leur, Zundert, Rijsbergen and Sprundel, which is no less than 706 hectares in size. Originally, a kind of mini-Peel was located here. The entire peat package was dug away in a few centuries, between 1400 and 1750. In dried form - peat - it went to the cities via peat canals, as fuel for households and breweries. The most famous is the 'Turfvaart' that runs to Breda. What remained was a hilly heath with fens in the hollows. There was little to be gained there and so in the 19th century the area was developed into forest and agricultural land. Walking through varied forest and flowery meadow When Brabants Landschap bought this area in 1970, it was boring with few natural values: fertilised agricultural land, young uniform coniferous forest and no more fens. Little life to be seen. After 40 years, that image has changed completely: attractive mixed forest and no less than 11 fens have been dug up again. With that, rare plants came back, such as the heath serpent and marsh stag's-wort. And amphibians such as the pool and moor frog. The forests are home to mammals, such as the polecat and roe deer and birds such as the green woodpecker and buzzard.