Nieuwvliet: polders and sea view

Nieuwvliet is a part of Sluis, in Zeeland. Barely a stone's throw away is Nieuwvliet-Bad, by the sea next to Cadzand-Bad. There were opportunities there during a weekend of camping. If you are with children, leave early, because at Groede they will find an ideal playground. In any case, park at the Dwarsdijk (V), at frituur 't Gemaal and cycle junction 37 (1/4-1/10: paid parking). Walk up the dike over the stairs and then turn right. In front of you is Nature Reserve Verdronken Zwarte Polder. The slufter area was created in 1802 after a dike breach. The seawater deposited clay and silt, creating a high salt marsh area with a varied flora: lamb's ear, zale and samphire, but also the rare salt marsh and the lacquer stalk. So after 100 m on the dike, take the boardwalk on the left. A little further on you follow the walking route through the reserve on the right, although you can already sniff some salty sea air at the beach. So turn right, you leave the boardwalk after a few hundred meters with the yellow arrows on a green shield. You pass a gate – keep in mind the code of conduct in the reserve – and soon walk between blackthorn, sea buckthorn and brambles on a winding sandy path. After a climb you come to a fork. On the left you can go back up the dune for a sea view, but in the end you choose the path inland on the right. At the junction with the bridle path you turn left again through a gate, into heathland and probably meet with grazing sheep. When you leave the nature reserve, choose the asphalt path to the sea on the left. At beach pavilion Saint-Pierre 1 – Nieuwvliet is popularly called Sinte Pier – they have a restaurant, terrace and toilets. Time for a walk on the beach. Walk to the high tide line and turn right. One terrace further, the blue and white striped Pavilion at the level of the stone pier, you walk up the stairs next to De Boekanier 2, the dike back and forth down at the bicycle shed and the orientation table for the blind turn left. At the fork, take the paved path for hikers on the right. Between the sea and the footpath there is now a tight strip of bicycle asphalt. You continue to follow the walking path for a long time, until you pass beach pavilion Puur 3. Only at the next staircase, a few hundred meters further down on your right, you leave the hiking trail on the right. Follow the road now towards cycle junction 16. At the Zwarte Gat just up the Puiendijk via the cycle path and just before the left turn you choose the walking / cycling path on the right. That does not end in a dead end, there is immediately a connection to the right down and through the Zwartegatse Creek. You then walk between two water features. Just past the bridge on your right, turn left at the fork, along with the LF 1a North Sea Route. Then turn right to Groede Podium 4, a play and information park with restaurants and toilets. There are also bunkers and a set of information panels that explain how the German occupiers built this complex with Dutch and Belgian forced labourers. Walk out of that Vlaemsche Duyn. 100 meters after Groede Podium you step right onto the Catsweg, between Proost- and Stoute- or Zoutepolder, direction cycle junction 11. At the fork at 't Hoenderhuisje 5 keep right. Cross the bridge over the Zwartegatse Creek, turn left onto mosseldijk and then choose the 's-Gravelaarsweg to the right. Turn left at the T, turn into the high water levels. With the one from 1993, you even go head-to-head in this place. Today, the Meuse is unnavigable from Maastricht. For shipping, the Juliana Canal was dug on Dutch territory in 1932. At Bed and Breakfast De Klaproos you come back to the winter dike, which you follow to the right. He takes you to the flagged pilgrimage village of Heppeneert 3, dedicated to Our Lady of Tranquility. With shop, candle gallery, prayer garden, toilets and two inns. On your right, behind the retaining wall, the most beautiful floodplains of the region ripple, speckled with grazing cattle. You continue until past the last house (no. 1) and then turn left into a road, which immediately turns right into the meadows bend. In that bend you can see remains of an old retaining wall, with slots for a bulkhead beam. In the north peaks the green church spire of Maaseik. At the field intersection, take the grass road on the left and at the T with oak again turn left. At the end of the grass road you come to a T on asphalt. Here you make a zigzag left / right and you are at the Zanderbeek, embedded in the green. So follow the field road to the right along the green strip. At the first exit on the left is Duivelsbrugske 4. The corresponding legend of Riddart, the Card Knight, is told on a board. You also came across the story at the village fountain of Heppeneert. Continue straight ahead and follow the Zanderbeek until you reach the asphalt of the Zandstraat. Turn left there. First ignore the Diepbeekweg and then the Keizerskamp. This is followed by the beautifully restored scaffolding mill De Hoop 5 from Sint-Bavodijk. A little further on you zigzag through the bends and choose the Nooddijk on the right. At the T turn right and immediately after Camping Zonneweelde 6 turn left along the field edge and the pollard willows of the campsite. You eventually get back on asphalt and walk to the right until you reach the seawall. There again up the stairs to the Zwarte Polder. Follow the dike to the left until you reach the starting point.