Van Merksplas Colony across the border

Those who enjoyed the tour 'Cycling in the Noorderkempen' on our site can knit a follow-up. This tour starts at the chapel of the Colony of Merksplas and crosses the border via Heikant to the Dutch Old and New Strumpt. A trip that is best done in dry and good weather, because the unpaved paths are very muddy when it rains.

Appointment at the chapel of Merksplas Kolonie (V). With the chapel on your right you cycle to the first intersection: junction 30. Turn left, continue past the penal institution (1), direction 3 You touch the Merksplas-Rijkevorsel road for a while, immediately turn away from it and then take a dolomite cycle path through a beautiful drive, to the traffic road. Cross the ring canal and follow it to the left. Just past the former swimming bowl you literally cycle through the high berm. Further through a residential area and along an SME zone. Cross the steenweg on Hoogstraten and continue cycling through the Slagmolenstraat, until junction 3 Follow Hoekeinde to the right, direction junction 07 at a white chapel. Turn left, direction 06, past Carons Hofke (2). In summer, garden terrace De Kleine Caron beckons, at restaurant De Caron and Villa ter Borcht. Our tour turns left next to the restaurant, through a park drive. On the left a pond with original 'images' of twigs and chicken wire. Just behind it you come to a large clearing with picnic areas and an 'international' signpost. Leave the park and continue cycling to the Merksplas-Hoogstraten road. Follow the narrow cycle path to the left, cross the Mark and turn right into Berkelaar. You cycle between the Silexhoeve and the Berckelaerhoeve through a meadow landscape, with Canada poplars and large greenhouses. Past the Groeneveld and Nieuw Erf farms, past glass construction and a forest edge, you will arrive at junction 06. Continue straight ahead, direction 08. In a bend you can see the Berkshoeve. Then you will pass the Geheuls Erf, the Gesterhoeve, a tomato vending machine and the large Chapel of Our Lady of Silence with picnic area. Cross the Merksplas-Weelde road and continue cycling along the Verbindingsweg to Lipseinde. Turn right and then left into Strikkeweg. Further between meadows and fields and at the first intersection turn right into the Oude Baan, straight towards the church of Zondereigen. After you have crossed the Noordermark, you will see a chapel on the left between two linden trees, with an information board of the Heemkundekring. In Zondereigen you will pass tavern Schuttershof at the church, at junction 08. Turn left, direction Ginhoven and junction 99, again past a chapel. Turn left at the first intersection. In the hamlet of Ginhoven you meander between some farms with information boards.
2. Again across the Noordermark and past the nameplate of Merksplas. Now you pedal over Heikant through the forest for a while. Watch out for crossing cattle and then cycle along the Begijnhoeve. At the fork our tour turns right, for farm ice you can go to the Achtenrijthoeve, direction 12. You cycle past the white buildings in which the staff of the Farmer's Colony lived and past the buildings of the former Benevolence Colony (3), now a closed institution with safety wire behind which is also the statue of the vagrant. Left at junction 99 is a cozy square with two picnic tables and summer café Den Bayerd in the 'Casino'. Continue cycling past Visitor Center De Klapekster of Natuurpunt and Holiday Farm De Bonte Beestenboel. From here, the lanes are unpaved and sometimes very muddy. At the next quadrangle is junction 12. Turn right, direction 22, through the Torendreef, past the idyllic Bootjesven.
3. At the end of the drive turn left on a field road to the Grensdreef. Follow it to the right until you reach an asphalt road. Right. You have cycled into the Netherlands unnoticed. Cross the Merkske and take the first side road on the left, Zigraeck, an oak drive. At the end turn right into the Beemdendreef, between the Beemdenhoeve and the Olga Hoeve. At a complicated intersection straight ahead into the Nieuwe Strumpt, direction Ulicoten. At eel farm De Dikke en de Dunne you cycle at junction 22 towards 18, past some large farms and at the end of the Nieuwe Strumpt turn left into the Oude Strumpt. At a crossroads, the Oude Strumpt turns right. Continue cycling straight through the Postelse street, past a triangular square with 't Klompke and a chapel. At the end turn left. The road is now simply called Postel and takes you to the Haldijk, which you follow to the right. Where the pavers turn into asphalt, you cycle again on Belgian soil. At the Gouverneursbossen you are at junction 18. Follow the edge of the forest to the left, direction 19. Turn with the road to the right, through the forest and through open countryside with some farms to the hamlet of Hal. On the right a chapel with picnic area under some trees. Our tour turns left here. You cross the Merkske, again in the Netherlands, on a narrow asphalt cycle path, next to a dirt road. At a lonely farm, the cycle path ends and continues over concrete.
4. You now cycle through the 'big toe' of the Netherlands, in Castelré (4). At the end of the Schoorstraat you are at junction 19. According to an information board, you have to go to junction 52 instead of junction 11. At junction 52 you cycle to junction 11, then towards junction 35. In the center of Wortel, at the church, turn left next to tavern De Guld and via the Kerkpad to the Hoogstraten-Merksplas road. Cross it and follow the Zandstraat. You cross the Mark and continue through Keirschot. On the right behind the meadows a beautiful view of the church of Hoogstraten. At junction 35, choose junction 34. You cross the Kleine Mark and the Bolkse beek and find your way between the wells of the dirt road. At a chapel you come to a concrete road. Turn right, immediately past 't Bolks Heike, also a legendary regional café. Turn left at Bolk's cross. After farm Den Brandakker turn right into the Zandweg. At the fork, keep left and head into the forest on a dolomite bike path up to junction 34, along with a picnic area at a crossroads of lanes. Turn right, direction 30, back to your starting point.