Bree, Seagulls and Opitter

Just across the border with the Netherlands, Belgium has beautiful nature to offer. The cycle tour takes you through the beautiful Gruitroderbos. The forest on the Kempen Plateau is 660 hectares in size and is part of the Duinenbanden nature reserve. The dunes in the area emerged in the Ice Age, approximately 10,000 years BC. The pine forests were planted for timber production in the first half of the twentieth century; they had to supply mine wood to the coal mines in the area.

Between the coniferous forests there are small pieces of the original Gruitroder heath and drifting sand areas. Since 2008, these areas of nature have been expanded and an elongated strip of coniferous forest has been cleared to give the heath and dunes more space. The area is home to rare animals: the wood damselfly, the pin-footed salamander, the wood cricket, the gray sandhawk, the green sand beetle, the common blue and the red wood ant have found their niche here. Birds of prey skim over the treetops: the presence of buzzard, hawk and honey buzzard is the rule rather than the exception. You may also come across the smooth snake, which has wandered from the fens in the Dune Belt in search of prey.

The route starts in the historic town of Bree, which has been one of the most important cities in the Prince-Bishopric of Liège since 1366.