This 8 km hike in the Maldegem parish of Donk (9990) starts at the Poermolen, a primary school and multifunctional village hall, located at Paardekerkhof 1/A. There is a large parking area behind the building.

We position ourselves on the roadside with our back to the facade of the main building. Here you go right (Paardekerkhof), away from the village center. Follow the Plattelandsroute and green mountain bike route. Pass the side streets and continue straight ahead (Paardekerkhof). A few hundred meters further, you will pass the sports grounds of Excelsior Donk. Keep going straight (Paardekerkhof) and follow the gentle bend to the right at number 25. You arrive at an intersection with a concrete road, the Pastoor De Swaeflaan. Follow the Plattelandsroute and turn left. Continue along this concrete road (De Swaeflaan) until you reach Kronekalseide (N9). At tearoom Maurice, turn right (Kronekalseide). Be careful! Do not cross the road! Stay on the right side walking on the path of concrete bricks. On your left, you will see the old train station of Donk. You walk to the provincial border. Just before the sign ‘Provincie West-Vlaanderen’ and past Kronekalseide 305, you turn right onto a slow road. Take the path between the beech hedges. A little further on, you enter a small woods. Follow the path until you reach a paved cycle path. Here you turn left, between two wooden posts. You are now entering West-Flanders. Continue walking west toward the main building of the Sint-Elisabeth sanatorium, a former hospital. As soon as you come to the old parking area, turn immediately left onto a concrete path. Follow this path toward N9. On your left, you will see a sign with the title ‘Health Walk 1.6 km’. From here, follow this walking path, indicated with red square signs with white arrows. The concrete path bends to the right. Past the 200 m sign, you cross the driveway of the sanatorium and continue straight ahead. You will continue to follow the ‘Health Path’. The path bends to the right a little further on. Soon you will see a hole between the bushes on your left. Turn left into this hole between the bushes and follow the arrow of the Health Walk. At the small lighting pole, you cross the exit of the sanatorium and walk straight ahead. You now see green-white posts in front of you that block access for vehicles. Go through the green-white posts and then immediately turn left. Follow the white arrow on the red plate of the ‘Health Walk’. You walk on the south side of a rest home. Continue walking until you reach the signpost ‘Ten Bos’ and there you turn left. Keep following the ‘Health Path’. Past the low building on your right, turn right. Continue to follow the Health Path and the direction signs. Go on until you reach the ‘Ave Maria’ chapel. Beyond the chapel, turn left, winding between the trees. Step over the wooden planks and follow the path in the white sand. Continue along the white sand path until you reach two brick styles and turn right onto the avenue. From here, follow the avenue for quite a distance between the brambles. You are now walking in an easterly direction. A few hundred meters further, a large wooden cross appears among the bushes on your left. A little further on, you have a short paved path on your left to an old cemetery, the final resting place of about twenty sisters. It is worth taking a look at this remarkable place. Return to the avenue and turn left back onto the avenue, continuing eastward. On your right, you will see the back of the sanatorium emerging. Go all the way through the avenue until the end. At a green fence, turn right and cross the little bridge. Follow the path in the small woods here. Step over the planks and go straight until you reach the asphalted cycle path. There, turn left. Walk until the two wooden posts and leave West-Flanders. Past the posts, turn left. From here, follow the yellow mountain bike route on the asphalted cycle path. A few hundred meters further, a picturesque white farmhouse appears on your left. Follow the asphalt street to the right (Awalstraat). At the intersection, cross the Pastoor De Swaeflaan and re-enter the street ‘Paardekerkhof’. Follow this street until you reach Paardekerkhof 25. Turn right here, onto the field path between the trees. Follow the green mountain bike route through the avenue in an easterly direction. After a few hundred meters, you come to an intersection of avenues. The mountain bike route goes to the right towards N9, but you take the road to the left, away from N9. Now you are walking in a northern direction. After a few hundred meters, the gravel road becomes an asphalt road between oaks. Eventually, you reach a T-junction. Here you turn left (Heirweg) and briefly follow the Maerlan route. After Heirweg 45A, turn right onto a small asphalt road. You follow the GR route and mountain bike route. After 50 m, this road changes into a dirt road with large stones. From here, you walk quite a distance along this same dirt road (Schipstaldreef). A few hundred meters further, there is a bend to the right, then to the left, and then again slightly to the right. You arrive at a larger road (Passiedreef). At house number 318, turn left (Passiedreef). You step back in a westerly direction. Past Passiedreef number 283, the road bends to the right. About 50 m past this bend, turn left onto the dirt road and from now on follow the green mountain bike route. DO NOT go all the way to Ooststraat, because then you will have gone too far! Here, follow this new dirt road southwards between the fields for quite a distance. Ignore the side dirt roads and continue following the green mountain bike route for several hundred meters. So keep going straight along the dirt road for several hundred meters. Ahead there is a sharp bend to the right and then 30 m further a sharp bend to the left. Keep left and continue further south. Follow the dirt road to the end. You finish this road between two stately oaks at Heirweg street. Turn right at Heirweg 50A. Walk past hair salon Petra toward the village (Heirweg). You will arrive in the village center of Donk. On your left, you have café ’t Kloefke. Two houses further, turn left: Paardekerkhof. At this intersection, you have a beautifully restored farmhouse on your right (Donkstraat 59): the Smoufelbeekhoeve. This is an agricultural museum with a carriage workshop and vintage tractors. Enter the street ‘Paardekerkhof’ and after 30 m you will return to the Poermolen.