Cycling in the Noorderkempen

With this tour we end up in the north of the province of Antwerp where the well-known cycling network shows us the way. This network has about 2,000 kilometers of excellent cycle paths, which you can combine to your heart's content. We opted for a loop from Sint-Jozef (Rijkevorsel) over Achel to the Kooldries nature reserve. From there you follow the canal and drive past the birthplace of the famous writer Aster Berkhof. On this tour you will not be bored anywhere. The Kempen landscape is flat, green and very varied. Eye-catchers are the picturesque hamlet of Achel and the colony of Merksplas.

Appointment at the bridge for pedestrians and cyclists over the Canal Dessel - Schoten in Sint-Jozef Rijkevorsel (V), also junction 71 of the bicycle junction network of the province of Antwerp. Cross the bicycle bridge and follow the canal on the other side to the left (direction junction 72). Continue cycling along the canal with the former cement factory C.B.R. on the other side, later also the Wienerberger brickworks. Our path becomes rougher and turns into a concrete road, past Metallo Chimique. You cycle through a residential area with parish center De Schrans and reach junction 72. Here you choose left, direction junction 30. You pass Café Tourist and cycle across bridge 6. On the other side you will pass café De 2 volksvrienden. Then take the Ossenweg on the right. Don't worry about side streets, cycle past the Ossenroute farm and drive straight ahead into the Ossenweg at the crossroads.
2. Just past the Ossenhoeve, the concrete track stops at two rest benches. Only cyclists and riders are allowed to continue on a narrow path between two clay pits. You end up in a beautiful oak drive and continue to follow it straight ahead. Cross the Merksplas-Brecht road and continue cycling until junction 30. Continue cycling straight ahead (direction junction 34). You will pass the penal institution of Merksplas colony and the former prison chapel Onze-Lieve-Vrouw Ascension (2) from 1897. Where the vowels stop, you continue cycling through an unpaved lane, where not even riders are allowed. Then you can use a dolomite cycle path up to junction 34. Here you turn left, direction junction 35. The cycle path ends at a building of the PIDPA. A little further you come to a wide gravel road, which you follow to the right. Cycle left until you reach the T-junction at the cross of Bolk (3), a hamlet of Rijkevorsel. You cycle along a wider asphalt road, past tavern Bolks Heike until, at a chapel, you can turn left into the Koestraat. The Smugglers' Route also passes here.
3. At the fork, turn right and continue on a dirt road with quite a few pits here and there. You can now fully enjoy a beautiful open agricultural landscape with fields and meadows. Continue pedaling slowly to junction 35. On the left a farm with castle allures and a large horse stable under a thatched roof. Right in front of you you can see Lange Katrien in the distance, the Sint-Katharinakerk of Hoogstraten. Turn left towards junction 29. Don't worry about side roads, Keirschot turns into De Sluis and you wind through a never annoying, open agricultural landscape.
4. You reach junction 29 on the square (picnic benches) with the historic Gothic chapel of Achtel of Our Lady of Seven Woes (4). Here you turn left, direction junction 36. You cycle past the house where Louis Doms, the man who taught Achtel folk dancing, lived and along the Heihoeve. At the fork, keep left and exit Achtel. At the first intersection, turn right and cycle to junction 36. Here you turn right, still between the meadows. Carefully cross the Hoogstraten - Rijkevorsel road and follow the Kruisboogweg on the other side, past the Kruisbooghoeve. At the junction with the chapel, keep left. If you don't care about side roads, cross an intersection and then turn right into Lacyns. A little further on you reach junction 39, the rest and picnic area Karreweg.
5. Turn right and follow the Karreweg towards junction 09. You now cycle on a field road with two concrete strips through a landscape with beautiful views. At the end you cycle right and you drive past some farms until you can turn left next to hoeve Hoenderheide. Continue cycling until you reach the Hoogstraatsebaan. Cross it, briefly left and then immediately right into Laboureur. At a crossroads with a nice picnic area you reach junction 09. Turn left towards junction 97. Cross an intersection and at the T-junction with a chapel follow the Kloosterstraat to the right and turn a little further into Henxbroek. At junction 97, turn left into Vondel, direction junction 81. Past Carpe Diem Deco you have to turn right into the Broeckhovenstraat. You just have to follow this cobblestone road to turn left into the Leemstraat. A little further you cross the Heiken, a busy road and you cycle further through the Leemstraat on the other side. At the end of this street, cross the Vaartstraat and cycle into a new neighborhood until junction 81. Then continue straight ahead and follow the Duivelstraatje. You follow that to the end. Right, the Burnt Court (5). Turn left into Paepestraat. Via the Tilburgbaan and the Vaartdijk you come to junction 98. You are now back at the canal Dessel - Schoten, which you follow to the left (direction junction 38). (The towpaths will be renewed at various places along the canal; follow the indicated diversions). Picnic benches have now been regularly placed along the canal.
6. On the other side of the canal, lies the Kooldries nature reserve. At bridge 10 you cross the Vaartstraat and continue cycling along a swinging bowl. After you have cycled under a bridge, you will pass bridge 9 with the church of Sint-Lenaarts on the left. A little further the towpath ends and you now have to go through a less beautiful part of the industrial zone. At junction 38, continue straight ahead on the canal, past bridge 8 and Old 7. From here you cycle back on a real towpath. At bridge 7 you are at junction 85. Three hundred meters away is junction 84. (Here you have the opportunity to combine the tour with Rondje Zoersel, published by Kreo May 2005, 43 km long). But this tour continues straight along the canal, towards junction 71. The next seesaw bridge has no number, but there is a sas behind it and on the map this place is called Sluis 1. You can already see the pedestrian and bicycle bridge. On the left, at the lock, there is a monument to the Allied liberators, who built a bridge over the lock walls here in September 1944. This allowed the liberation of the Noorderkempen to begin. You cycle past the house where Aster Berkhof lived in his youth and the terrace - between the street and the canal - of chip shop Vaart. There they also have snacks, ice cream and waffles.