Back to the Ice Age in the Dune Belt

The rolling Belgian province of Limburg offers a special piece of nature just across the border with the Netherlands. Find your way through the woods around Opglabbeek and enjoy the beautiful nature around you. Take, for example, the Gruitroderbos, where 660 hectares remain of the Duinengordel nature reserve, which belonged to the much larger Gruitroderheide. The dunes in the area were created in the Ice Age, about 10,000 BC. The forest, which was created in the first half of the twentieth century, is located on the Kempens Plateau, about 70 meters high. The pine forests were planted for timber production; they had to supply mining timber to the coal mines in the area. Between the coniferous forests are small pieces of original heathland and shifting sand areas. Since 2008, this type of nature has been expanded and an elongated strip of coniferous forest has been cleared to give the heathland and dunes more space. Due to the dune landscape, biodiversity is a hidden gem on the Kempens Plateau. The area is home to rare animals: the damselfly, the fin-footed salamander, the wood cricket, the gray clawweed, the green sandpit beetle, the common blue and the red wood ant have found their home here. Birds of prey skim over the treetops: the presence of buzzard, goshawk and honey buzzard is the rule rather than the exception. You may also come across the smooth snake, which has wandered off the fens in the Dune Belt in search of prey. At the start and end of the bike ride, where you can park your car for free, is a beautifully renovated farmhouse. This Orshof can be rented so that you can stay there and enjoy a wonderful weekend away. If you do not wish to stay, you are of course welcome at the end of the cycle tour in the atmospheric orangerie-brasserie or on the terrace to enjoy a snack or a drink.