The Drowned Land of Saeftinghe and Prosperpolder

On the border of the Netherlands and Belgium lies the Drowned Land of Saeftinghe. With its 3,600 ha, this beautiful nature reserve is immediately the largest brackish water salt marsh area in Europe. It is located for the most part in Zeeuws-Vlaanderen (The Netherlands) and is therefore managed by the foundation Het Zeeuwse Landschap. The area has a very differentiated flora and fauna. The mudflats and salt marshes, which contain a lot of salt-loving plants, are an ideal stopping place for all kinds of birds. In winter, even the white-tailed eagle can be spotted here. The thousands of geese in that season are easy prey for all kinds of birds of prey. We start our walk in the parking lot of the visitor center Saeftinghe, Emmaweg 4 in Nieuw Namen (postcode 4568 PW, The Netherlands) (V). We leave the parking lot of the visitor center to the right and immediately turn right into the Koninginnestraat. You walk past café-restaurant Het verdronken land and about 500 meters further, at the next intersection, you turn left. Follow the indication 'Doel - eco-cycle route'.

You walk past the sign that indicates the end of the tiny Emma village. In the wide landscape you have a beautiful view of the cooling towers of the Doel nuclear power plant. At the junction Parallelweg - Losannastraat turn right into Losannastraat. The Losannastraat turns to the left and you walk up a dike. In this vast polder area you will find several dikes that were erected every time a piece of land was reclaimed. The Dutch speak of the watchman, the sleeper and the dreamer. The waker is the closest to the Scheldt and is of course the most important dike. At the top of the dike, at some road signs, turn left. Follow direction cycle junction 13. Via a gravel road you descend the dike. Where the gravel road ends, near the Mussenhof, you leave the dike and take the walking path next to the dike. It is indicated by a yellow arrow on a green background.

The beautiful hiking trail runs between arable land on your right and the dike on your left. Keep following this hiking trail for a long time and enjoy the wide polder landscape. At the first farm you come back to paved road and turn right. This is the Zorgdijk. The hedge on your left acts as a windshield for the fruit trees behind it. At the first intersection on the Zorgdijk turn left into the Langestraat. You now walk in the direction of Prosperdorp. At the intersection with the Petrusstraat go straight ahead, direction Hedwige-Prosperproject. Both polders are being depoldered and, as it were, donated back to the Scheldt in order to turn it into a tidal area - with mudflats and salt marshes. Keep following this long street. You will return to Belgian territory.

Continue walking straight on in the Hertog Prosperstraat until you reach the white house with house number 1. Turn right onto Sint-Engelbertusstraat. This is how you reach the church of Prosperdorp. Here is a beautiful picnic area with a view of the Doel nuclear power plant and the gantry cranes next to the immense Deurganck dock. This is where the large container ships are unloaded and loaded. Turn right at the church into the Belgischedreef. Keep following it until the end. At the T-intersection turn right into Petrusstraat. This long, straight street takes you all the way to the dike of Het Verdronken Land van Saeftinghe, near the Emmaweg. Climb up the dike here and keep following it to the left. From here you have a beautiful view of the nature reserve and even further on the Scheldt where you can see smaller and larger ships sailing in clear weather.

Keep following the dike to a distribution station for gas pipelines and a bird watching hut. Here you take the 'Private way' and walk all the time right next to the nature reserve. Keep following this beautiful path until you reach the place where you can enter the reserve. About 400 ha have been made accessible to the general public via the Ruige Laarzenpad (2 km) and the Plankierpad (1 km). This way you can extend the walk a bit. If you prefer not to do that, you leave the dike here and you are immediately at the parking of the visitor center.