Rozendaal, Rheden and Velp

Five thousand hectares of nature reserve stretch around Rheden, Arnhem and Rozendaal. It is therefore no wonder that the hilly area of the Veluwezoom National Park is diverse: forest, heathland and some sand drifts offer a varied range of flora and fauna. Heather, common bell heather, gorse and broom are common on the heathlands and in the old forests, bracken grows between the summer oaks and birches, but you will also find the blueberry or the foxberry. If the trees are on richer loose soils, you will also see beeches, oaks, Norway spruces, larches and sweet chestnut trees rising high into the sky. Sometimes these giants are forty metres high! The first stop on the route is listening spot L39: Farm in No Man's Land of the Liberation Route. In the autumn of 1944, also known as the front period, Groesbeek was liberated after massive American airborne landings during Market Garden, but the Germans struck back with heavy counterattacks. The population was evacuated in October. Some citizens, such as the Janssen brothers, were unable to leave. Their house was literally on the front line on the Wylerbaan in Groesbeek. At the boulder that marks the listening spot, you can listen to an incredible story about a true story. Then you cycle on to Rosendael Castle. The gigantic medieval keep with walls four metres thick is the visible part of the castle. During research in 1985, wall remains were even found in the castle pond, indicating that the complex must have been even larger in its heyday. An eighteenth-century residential complex was added to the tower. The country house and gardens are partly freely accessible to the public. Then you cycle past the beautiful old sheepfold of Rheden. The sheepfold no longer serves as a manure production company today, but it does remind us of the time when sheep still roamed freely across the heathland of the Veluwezoom National Park. The sheep spent the night in the sheepfold, where the next day manure could be made from the droppings that the sheep left behind in the fold. With the invention of artificial fertilizer, this is no longer necessary today. A good bit further on you will pass Biljoen Castle. This is a moated castle made of brick that was easy to defend. The castle was built around 1530 and was originally the residence of the Duke of Gelre. Due to financial problems, he sold the castle to the steward. The castle has always been privately inhabited and now has a beautiful landscape park that is freely accessible.