The Vrachelse Heide and De Moeren

In the municipality of Oosterhout there is a former heathland and drifting sand area of 149 hectares, which is now mainly planted with Scots pine. There are still remains of the heathland and drifting sand area, but these are mainly found in the eastern part of the area. More mixed forest has also been planted there. To limit the drifting sand area, farmers used to grow oak thickets here. Rare plant and animal species hide among the trees: harebell and heath spurry emerge among coarser trees and shrubs, while the red wood ant and ant lion colonies carry out their hard work in the sandy soil. The area attracts birds such as the green and black woodpecker, but also birds of prey such as the tree falcon, hawk and various types of owls hunt from the trees for smaller rodents that forage among the leaves on the ground. That route leads you through nature to the Spinolaschans, which is also called the Grote Schans. The original castle was built in 1624-1625, but was also used during the siege of Breda. Until 1952, the Spinolaschans served as an extremely good defense structure due to its favorable location on the Mark River, but after that time it was demilitarized. In 2007, a number of pools were constructed on the west and north sides of the former military complex, as an ecological connection zone between the polder and the surrounding nature reserve.