Estate Huis Ter Heide with (boardwalk)

Routing Walk - most beautiful.

GPS recording 15 February 2023

This starts at Huis ter Heide and goes in a different direction than my source and with expansion via a circle and a watchtower and then Vlonderpad (also called Wonderpad) we go to https://maoske.nl/ at 12.2 km to eat something and then over the St. Annapadje we return to the starting point which is 5 km further

Huis ter Heide Estate

Between the villages de Moer and Loon op Zand lies the Landgoed Huis ter Heide. This used to be a vast peat area where peat was extracted from the 13th century onwards. In the 16th century, the landscape underwent a radical change, because the intensive peat extraction depleted the peatlands. Heathlands arise and names such as Moersche Heide, Loonsche Heide still refer to that time. From the second half of the 18th century, large-scale Scots pine was planted on the heath, which was largely felled again a century later. With the yield of the wood, the heathland is further cultivated for agriculture. Two farms were built and in 1864 the villa Huis ter Heide was built. Landgoed Huis ter Heide changes hands several times, who purchase the area for investment or mining reasons. The last owner, the Utrecht investment company Unitas, sold the area to Natuurmonumenten in 1976. Since that time, Natuurmonumenten has conducted a nature development-oriented management, as a result of which flora and fauna in this beautiful area have gained considerable diversity.

Gallows end forests

These forest plots form the western part of Landgoed Huis ter Heide. The Gallows End refers to the gallows field that was once located here. Here the corpses of the members of a gang were shown, among others, who made the area of Loon op Zand unsafe in the 18th century.

Nature memorial plan Lobelia

Around 1995, Natuurmonumenten started the multi-year nature restoration plan "Lobelia". As part of the construction of the Ecological Main Structure (EHS), new nature is being created here and nature reserves are being connected to each other. Thanks to this recovery plan, the intensively cultivated agricultural land in the southern part of Landgoed Huis ter Heide has been transformed into the unspoilt heath and fen landscape of around 1900.