Neighborhood-on-the-leg walk DAKNAM - Every step counts! 10 000 steps walk.

The route consists of two loops that both return to the starting point. In the second loop there is also the possibility of an extension to Splett erenbrug. Loop 1: distance 3.4 km From the picnic area on the corner of Daknamdorp and Reinaertdreef, the tour leads to the left to the Kriktestraat, direction Daknamse forests. The Kriktestraat with the former name Kriekere is one of the oldest streets of Daknam, together with Daknamdorp, Ganzendries and the Rechte Straete (= the current Pontweg). Soon we find ourselves in the rural surroundings with beautiful homes in an oasis of greenery. On the right, see two majestic elms at a small farm. At the Y- junction we stay to the left of the lovely gingerbread house in the central square. Here was a wooden standard windmill in the Daknammolenstraat until 1915. We then walk straight ahead and continue to follow the Kriktestraat. At the next fork we turn right into the Kluisstraat. Soon we find ourselves in the middle of the Daknam forests, formerly a pine forest on a sand ridge, now a residential forest area with country houses and villas. One way in the Kluisstraat, the main road is partially closed to through traffic. We turn left here, follow the Krommestraat and turn right into a small road that flows into the Ernest Welvaertstraat at the end. The street was named after its most famous occupant; the Loker artist Ernest Welvaert (1880-1946) painter of impressionistic works. Here he painted his most beautiful canvases in the immediate vicinity.
We turn right at the end of the wegel. At the T-junction with the Daknammolenstraat we walk to the left, and then continue straight until we reach the walking and cycling path that we walk up to the right. From 1867 until the second half of the 20th century this was the railway connection from Lokeren-centrum with Daknam and Eksaarde to Moerbeke and Zelzate. And so we soon reach our starting place.

Loop 2. Distance : 2,2 km (with extension 3,3 km) Starting from the picnic area we immediately turn right towards Daknamdorp. After a few moments we pass on the left the former girls' school and the monastery, next to it the current parochial center Daknamdack with the theater behind it. A little further on the right is the old village school for boys) and the old town hall, later also a post center. After a few hundred meters we arrive at the Church of Our Lady: a gem and remnant of Romanesque art: a must for every visitor. The village square with its lime trees is the annual scene of the May celebration and the arts and crafts market on 2nd Sinksendag.