To the Keigat forest

1. Appointment at the parking (V) in the Kasteeldreef in Oostwinkel. With the 15th century church St. John of Beheading on your right and the white presbytery ? from 1756 on your left you start. You step past café-tavern De Kastelein and can be guided by the hexagonal signs of the Keigatbos walking route. At the T-junction, turn left and walk through an open agricultural landscape. On the right, in the distance, you can see the wind turbines on the Schipdonk canal that supply the region of Eeklo with electricity. Bend with the road to the left and at the end, at the T-junction, turn left, towards the center of Oostwinkel. Take the first road on the right and follow it between the fields to the end. Turn left and on the first quadruple turn right. * Nettle fire: organic herb farm and distillery. Open on Saturday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. If you come at the right time, the lavender is in bloom. You imagine yourself in Provence.

2. You now walk on a wide earth road between the fields, towards Keigatbos. The forest is an offshoot of the large Drongengoedbos. The name Keigat refers to a wooded place and a ridge where many boulders and stones can be found. At the fork, keep left and head into the forest a little further on. At the end of the wide forest road you come to the Veldkruis ? in Ursel. The cross is surrounded by linden trees and its history dates back to the 13th century, when the Tournai bishop Walter de Marvis demarcated the parish boundaries in this region. In the summer, elderly people from the neighborhood regularly come here to have a chat and that is why this place is also called the 'farmer's parliament'. Walk to the left until you reach the quadruple jump. Follow the Keigatstraat to the right, until you can turn left onto an earth road for local traffic. At a farm, the road is paved again. Here we had a nice detour in mind, but nothing came of it, because it ran on a private road. Turn left into the Bunny for local traffic. The street owes its name to an inn that was kept open here in the 18th and 19th centuries. From the Bunny you have a beautiful view of the church of Ursel. You meander between some picturesque buildings. On an outbuilding of a small farm ? you can read the poem 'Friendship' by Sam Stofferis, a poet from Ursel. At the end of the narrow concrete road, turn left and follow Veldkruisstraat to the left until the first intersection. Here you were earlier. Now follow Keigatstraat to the right. The landscape here is slightly undulating. You walk over the Cuesta Zomergem-Oedelem, a slightly undulating ridge between Bruges and Ghent. The mini undulations would have been sandbanks in the past, when the sea was still here. Almost the Flemish Ardennes or the Heuvelland in miniature. You go back into the forest and where the narrow concrete road bends to the right, you step left into the unpaved forest road. Continue walking along the edge of the forest to the T-junction of unpaved roads. Turn right and continue through the Keibos to the bend of a concrete road. Follow Diepenbeek straight ahead and then walk into the first road on the left. You now walk through the Sint-Jansstraat, named after the Sint-Janshospitaal in Bruges, which used to own these lands. On the right you get a beautiful view of the church and the village of Oostwinkel.

3. Continue walking until the first intersection. You know that from the beginning of the walk. An arrow points to the right, towards De Kastelein. You have to go in that direction too. You walk through the Veldhoek, past the agglomeration sign of Oostwinkel and past primary school 't Winkel and municipal childcare Pardoes to the T-junction. Just turn right and just past café Friends turn left into the Kasteeldreef. The end point of the walk is now nearby.