Wortel and Castelreesche Heath

Ü Departure point: De Klapekster Wortelse Woods and Castelreesche Heide. Along the way, you can make a toilet stop at Café In Holland, a border café. Hike in "the big toe of the Netherlands," the Dutch enclave in the middle elevation of the province of Antwerp. First, go straight north to Merkske. Then follow the river westward along the marshy banks. Afterwards, we cross the border twice. At each crossing, we pass the reconstruction of a guard house from the First World War. Only here could you cross the border "officially." The rest was blocked off with the 'Dodendraad' (see separate hike). At Schootsenhoek, we also pass a somewhat bizarre monument: the Balloon Monument. It commemorates an event from 1870 when a balloon loaded with mail, which had started from occupied Paris, landed here. The majority of the hike takes place on unpaved paths. At the end, we also pass the tramp cemetery (see poi's).