Round Millingerwaard

Get a breath of fresh air on the water around Millingen and Doornenburg on the other bank. You can fully enjoy the beautiful river dune. The soft lapping of the water is music to your ears while you safely cycle your kilometers on the bike. De Millingerwaard is located in the heart of the Gelderse Poort. The nature reserve is given the space and that is clearly noticeable in the diversity of plant growth. With an area of 700 hectares, the Millingerwaard offers sufficient living space for large grazers. Entire herds of Konik horses, Galloway cattle, roe deer and beavers maintain nature.  For your own safety, keep a sufficient distance from these wild animals and certainly do not try to pet them.

The trees grow so fast on this soil that without the help of these animals the area would be impassable within 10 years. Famous in the Millingerwaard is the Colenbrandersbos on the banks, a last hardwood floodplain forest. If you look closely you will see that many shrubs are overgrown with tendrils and hops, which is typical of hardwood floodplain forests. The route starts at terp farm De Zeelandsche Hof where you can park your car safely and for free. After 6 km the first point of interest of the route appears: the Kekerdomse belt mill De Duffelt from 1868. Each mill sends a message with the position of the blades. Van De Duffelt is known for reading the position of the blades of"De Duffelt\\" when the border was safe for smugglers. Nowadays we can see from the blue miller's pennant whether we are welcome at the mill.

The route leads you past the robust monumental Castle De Doornenburg. The castle has the largest outer bailey in the Netherlands and is connected to the main castle by a wooden bridge. The farm within the walls is also unique for our country. As far as is known, De Doornenburg Castle has never been taken by siege. The last inhabitant of the castle died in 1847 and after that it fell into serious disrepair. Years of restoration began in 1937, but the owner was not allowed to enjoy it for long. In the Second World War, the castle was seriously damaged by the English air force because the Germans used the castle as a headquarters. Shortly after the liberation, the castle was gradually restored. This time, the renovation of the castle took 20 years and lasted until 1966. Nowadays you can get acquainted with the Middle Ages in the museum.