Tour of the Four Rivers

The tour begins and ends in Eppegem. A pleasant flat bike ride along quiet roads through the Brabantse Kouters, the Brussels-Rupel Canal, Groß-Scheldeland, and the Rupel region. It's a wonderful and calming experience to be able to cycle mostly on car-free dike paths along the Schelde, Durme, Rupel, and Zenne. In Buggenhout (near Lippelo), we ride along the monument marking the center of Flanders over a well-traversable unpaved road into a quiet nature reserve. In Sint-Amands on the Schelde, we take the free ferry (runs every half hour, except at 12:30). On the other side, we arrive at a surprising nature reserve, in a way an uninhabited peninsula, or at least that’s the impression we get. Here, we find ourselves in the "Scheldetal Moerzeke-Kastel" nature reserve, characterized by Schelde polders, and the multitude of dikes testifies to a struggle for agricultural land along the river. This land reclamation began over 900 years ago to protect these fertile areas from the encroaching tidal flow of the Schelde further inland. Cycling on the many dikes and field paths is relaxed, as there is almost no traffic here. However, one must be careful not to run over the many rabbits, partridges, and other pheasants that cross the paths. On the left and right, many great egrets feast on the fish stocks in the countless ponds. After a detour along the Durme to Hamme, we return along the Schelde and pass the picturesque villages of Temse and Rupelmonde. After Rupelmonde, we arrive back at another extraordinary nature reserve: the controlled floodplain of Kruibeke-Bazel-Rupelmonde, whose gigantic construction works began around 2009 and are virtually completed by 2014. During storm surges, this area fills with Schelde water, ensuring that the Kruibekenaars will have dry feet in the future. It is the last project from the original Sigma plan, which will protect Flanders five times better against flooding from the Schelde. At the shore in Bazel, a pleasant free crossing over the wide Schelde awaits us with the Flemish Community ferry to Hemiksem. We now head south into the interesting Rupel region with its brick-making villages, where we see the moon landscape of adjacent clay pits with the ruins of abandoned brickworks. Thus, the Rupel region is also occasionally referred to as the treasury of industrial archaeology. A little more about the Rupel: It is unique in Belgium, as it has no source and is formed by the confluence of Dijle and Nete in Rumst. Through the town of Boom and along the northern dike path, we reach the Drie Rivierenpunt in Rumst. The point where the three rivers converge is also remarkable, and we can use the cyclist bridges over the Nete and Dijle here. A little further south we reach the Zennegat, and this Zenne will accompany us from here almost to the endpoint of this refreshing day trip. This bike tour does not have its own signage. During this ride, several well-traversable unpaved sections are included in a beautiful nature reserve.

Note from May 20, 2019: The route in the areas of Moerzeke, Kastel, and Hamme may be disturbed in the coming years due to the gigantic Sigma works: Follow the diversions!