Soest, Eemdijk and Huizen

As part of Boswachterij De Vuursche, you can expect a beautiful old-fashioned landscape in the De Stulp sub-area. Staatsbosbeheer tries to restore nature here to its original state, which has resulted in an open and closed terrain. A 59-hectare heathland is surrounded by beautiful forests, which always become a mixture of deciduous and coniferous trees. Various plants grow on the bottom, making the sea of trees feel like a primeval forest. There is sufficient water available, which attracts many animals. Roe deer eat the young leaves of the bushes and the squirrel stores its supplies in the woods. Badgers and foxes hunt small prey. The buzzard, tree beam, tree piper, woodlark, stonechat, great gray shrike, crow and royal raven rule the treetops and grebes and little grebes swim in the water of the fluff lake, while the viviparous lizard scurries around the shore. The beautiful towns near the nature reserve are fun to explore. Laren, among others, to which you cycle via Eemdijk and Blaricum, is expanding rapidly. The town is named after a'laar\\\'; an open space in the forest and that is a place that appeals to the imagination. It is therefore not surprising that Laren is one of the oldest inhabited places in the Gooi. The very first people lived here around 2500 BC and in 1085 the bishop of Utrecht founded the Sint Janskerkhof. Although it was initially a farming village, Laren has grown into a commuter village, where many people who live in Utrecht seek refuge. The route starts at Profile Soest. Here you get a 10 euro discount on maintenance and repairs with your bicycle discount pass, so this is a perfect time to subject your bike to a little maintenance before you start the route or when you return to the parking lot. When you get close to Baarn during the second half of the bike ride, you will see Drakenburg. This was a knight's court town and a castle that was built around the fourteenth century. The castle existed until the beginning of the nineteenth century and was inhabited for a long time by its namesakes, the Lords of Drakenburg. Over the years, the castle has been renovated a lot. Nowadays, new buildings have been placed within the monumental canal remnant. A remnant of the old coach house has been incorporated into this.