If there is no bat path, you as a hiker would never be able to step through the marshy forest. The tree stock has many oaks and birches, but also Scots pines. The most striking thing here is the silence, a sound that is becoming increasingly rare these days. Along the way you also step along the Zuid-Willemsvaart and you come to the Bergerven. These are old gravel lakes, which give nature added value through a swamp zone and dry and moist heath stocks.

1. Meet at the village church of Opoeteren (V), part of Maaseik, for a walk on the edge of the Kempisch Plateau and the Maasvlakte. Walk, direction Neeroeteren, along the Neeroeterenstraat and after 100 m, at the covered bus stops, to the right into a narrow path. A beautifully maintained bat path takes you over the bridge of the Bosbeek and through a soggy trouser forest. On the asphalt road turn left and after 150 m turn right onto a wide dirt road.
2. Enjoy the pleasant silence in this beautiful mixed forest with lots of Scots pine, oak and birch. After 400 m at the fork ignore the forest road on the right and another 300 m further you walk, still straight ahead, out of the forest. Another 100 m further you go to the left at the T-junction (picture with brown X-sign). When the road turns left after 300 m, turn right after 30 m and then 50 m further to the right again. After 150 m, ignore a forest road on the right and at the next intersection walk to the left (picture with yellow hexagon). Continue straight for more than a kilometer until you reach the asphalt track. Cross that asphalt track and walk directly to the right on another wide forest road (picture with red triangle). The forest road soon turns to the left, plunges down after 500 m and narrows.
3. Walk at a crossroads to the left, cross a wide dirt road a little further and continue straight on a narrow path (still pictures with red triangle) until the Zuid-Willemsvaart. The Zuid-Willemsvaart dates from the 1820s and is actually a bypass of the Maas. It was dug on the initiative of King William I and connects the Dutch cities of Maastricht and 's Hertogenbosch. Walk to the right on the towpath. On and along the canal you can see different species of water birds and in the reeds to the left and right of the towpath are many species of dragonflies and damselflies. On the right below the towpath you will soon also see the Bergerven (1). The Bergerven consists of former gravel lakes and is now a nature development project of the Flemish Land Company. This aims to preserve the nature function, in particular combining nutrient-poor to moderately nutrient-rich swamp areas and dry to moist heaths with forestry and recreation.
4. Where the towpath splits after about a mile, turn right via a narrow path towards ven. After 50 m you come to a wide gravel road and walk to the left. 350 m further in the weerstandersweg bends to the right and after 250 m at the crossroads to the right (blue sign Cycle Route Kempen & Maasland no. 37). The asphalt track bends to the right and 500 m further you will find a resting point with panoramic views on the right. Walk back and then turn right into the first wide forest path. After 200 m at the T-junction turn right on a wider forest road and 100 m further to the left. At the next intersection you go straight ahead and at the T-junction you walk to the left on a wide forest road and after 5 m measure to the right (picture with light blue window). After 200 m, at the next T-junction, turn right, this time on a narrower forest road. Ignore all side paths and walk 600 m straight through a few steep climbs. You come to a wider road. Walk straight past the barrier until you reach the main track.
5. Cross the track and walk into the Dorperheideweg. On the left you first see the tennis club and then the football grounds of Opoeteren. After 500 m you come to a six-jump. Take the first asphalt track down to the main track. Cross and enter the Fortstraat in the direction of the church. Just before the church, walk to the left to the Dorpermolen (2), an underlay mill from 1530 that is urgently awaiting restoration. It has been a monument since 1981 and protected as a village view together with the St. Dyonisius Church and the immediate surroundings.