Drunen

About the route

Skip the hustle and bustle of the drifting sand and enjoy a walk on the quieter northern side of the Loonse and Drunense Dunes. Walk past the hamlet of Fellenoord and be surprised by lovely viewpoints. This way, you will discover another side of the nature reserve, which is mainly known for its sand drifts.

During your walk, pay close attention to the many viewpoints you encounter, with views over long, narrow strips. Their origin dates back to the 14th century!

At that time, the Drongelens Canal, which you walk alongside now, did not yet exist. To the north, the peat area was being reclaimed. The parcels oriented north-south consisted of narrow strips, some of which extended for kilometers, from Vlijmen to the drifting sand. This pattern is characteristic of the Netherlands and what is called Holland peat and is actually not typical for the high sandy soils where you are now standing. But those parcels were logically extended back then. They worked from front to back on the land, resulting in those long strips.

Due to all those different owners, significant differences have emerged over the centuries, so that you now see forests in some places and grasslands or overgrown pieces of heath in others.

Fellenoord

Around the drifting sand area of the Loonse and Drunense Dunes, at the transition between sand and peat, lies a band of farmsteads. This farming landscape emerged in the 13th and 14th centuries. Giersbergen, Fellenoord, and Pessaert are all 'remnants' of this farming landscape on the northern side of the Dunes.

Venture off the route for a moment and feel free to take a look to the left. At Fellenoord, the centuries-old farm has been preserved. This monumental farmhouse is privately owned. When you consider that 'Felle' roughly translates to wild or dark, you realize that this must have once been a wild, dark-covered place.

As Natuurmonumenten, we look beyond just nature; we also consider the landscape. Here, we seek ways to preserve the cultural-historical values of this place and make the farming landscape more visible.

Different parties from the area collaborate to preserve, among other things, the cultural-historical landscape.

Enjoy another viewpoint at the bench. This grassy piece is not an ancient remnant of the reclamation. In 1995, a forest fire raged here for several days, completely burning down the forest. The layer of ash allowed the pipe rush to thrive.

The striking thing is that this piece became a true paradise for mice! The tall grass provides perfect protection for the mice. The grass is too high for the fox, and owls see too little from above. The mice, in turn, eat everything that is not grass. As a result, trees have had no chance to grow here all these years. It is now also an important habitat for the viviparous lizard and tree pipit.