Experience the nature of the Deurnse and Mariapeel

You soon discover the Schadijk area, which owes its name to the need to protect ourselves with dikes, in this case against damage caused by sand drifts. Sand drifts were created by the removal of sod from the vast heathlands. At the end of the 19th century, sand drifts were tackled by foresting large areas with Scots pine. Heathlands were also transformed into agricultural land. Staatsbosbeheer is currently carrying out restoration work to return part of the area to its original state. That is why more than 50 hectares of forest have been cut down on the drifting dunes.

In the lovely Horst you can stop at Museum de Kantfabriek. Working lace-producing machines are the core of the museum, where the story of the textile industry in the region is told, supplemented with stimulating temporary exhibitions. The textile documentation center is an extensive lending handicraft and textile book library with more than 9,000 books, unique to the Netherlands. It is also a library with the regional history of Horst and a genealogy department.

When you leave Horst you will pass the castle ruins of Huys ter Horst, also worth a visit. It was renovated in 2009 and now has a beautiful lookout post. The castle was built around 1350. The castle was inhabited until 1820. Now only a gate, cellar vaults and tower fragments of the main castle and the tithe barn remain. For children there is a knights and robbers path, a 2.5 km path where they can learn about nature while playing.