Kasterlee "Hoge Rielen"

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Last update 28-01-2023

According to the regulations, 'NO DOGS' are allowed on the domain 'Hoge Rielen'. We didn’t know this and walked through without checking with our dog. Other people also went through with their dogs, see comments on this walk.

Beautiful varied walk. We parked the car on Beukendreef at the bridge of the N19G and walked the route counterclockwise. That turned out to be a good decision. First, you get a number of kilometers of paved ground under your feet, later it changes more to unpaved. It is definitely a walk that does not get boring quickly.

Wikipedia states the following about Kasterlee; "Kasterlee is a place and municipality in the Belgian province of Antwerp. The municipality has over 18,000 inhabitants. It is located in the Kempen at an altitude of 18 meters. Kasterlee belongs to the judicial canton of Geel and electoral canton of Herentals.
In addition to Kasterlee itself, the sub-municipalities Lichtaart and Tielen also belong to the municipality of Kasterlee. The hamlet of Terlo borders the development of Kasterlee village to the east, while the hamlet of Houtum does so to the south."

The last part of the walk goes through the "Hoge Rielen". According to Wikipedia, the following; "Hoge Rielen is a youth accommodation center of 230 ha in Kasterlee that is owned by the Flemish Community and is managed by the non-profit organization ADJ. Different groups can be accommodated simultaneously in 17 pavilions and on the camping grounds.

On this old military domain, there are many sheds that served as ammunition storage. Many have since been rebuilt into educational classrooms or sleeping pavilions. In 1999, the then Flemish master builder Bob Van Reeth developed a long-term vision for the domain. Various study offices were subsequently selected to develop a master plan, with Secchi & Vigano being chosen. Currently, this master plan is being implemented."