Putten, Boeschoten and Hoef

East of Putten lies one of the oldest and most beautiful forests in the Netherlands. Centuries-old oaks seem to move in the mists that hang in the forest. They are twisted into strange shapes by the ravages of time and give the forest the popular nickname "the forest of the dancing trees".

There are also dark areas in the forest where Douglas firs and Norway spruces form a dense canopy of needles above you. The mysterious forest offers (predatory) birds, badgers, wild boars and red deer a good shelter, because nature is allowed to take its course here. Because of the peace and quiet, there is a good chance of an encounter with wild animals, especially around dusk. The Solse Gat is also located in the Speulderbos. This pit was created during the last ice age by a whirlpool of glacial water. And there is no shortage of cultural history either, because burial mounds from ancient times can be found in the area. Various special archaeological finds have been made at these burial sites.

The mill 't Hert is the only one of the two mills in the village centre of Putten that has been preserved. The octagonal smock mill was built in 1899 to replace a mill that had burned down a year earlier. Like its predecessor, this mill grinds grain. However, this does not always happen when the mill is running; the volunteer miller also sometimes lets the mill run without it being functional.

When you leave the mill behind you, you will come to the Schovenhorst estate. This estate is over 160 years old. Via a small path that winds across the estate, you will come to the Kleine Pinetum; a closed experimental garden and tree nursery that was started in 1848. The garden has many beautiful views of the various exotic tree species that have been planted there, including a crooked garland fir, a gigantic high sequoia and a Japanese Arborvitae. You can see that a number of trees date back to that year by their height: they have now grown to over 40 metres high.

The Groot Spriel estate is also worth a stop. Before an elegant house with a beautifully landscaped park was built in the middle of the woods in 1882, there was an old farm here. From the house, various view lanes run in all directions through the park and are connected to an outer ring that connects to the surroundings.