Tour of the Kempen forestry

Your cycling route starts at the cozy Eetcafé De Kers in Oerle. In the heart of the Kempen you will find the Eight Beatitudes: Eersel, Duizel, Steensel, Knegsel, Wintelre, Reusel, Hulsel and Netersel. In the past, all those place names ended in'sel\\\' and were called'de selligheden\\\', or'the beatitudes\\\'. Dutch soldiers who were stationed here during the Belgian Revolution scornfully referred to the villages as 'the wretchedness'. Life was difficult in Brabant at the time. Now they are beautiful places. Via Steensel and Eersel you drive to Boswachterij De Kempen. Civilization seems far away here in the endless forests dominated by conifers. Further on you pass through a hamlet with a striking name: Toterfout. Sixteen burial mounds from the period around 1000 BC have been found here.