The Kempen is never boring

Cycling around Valkenswaard in Brabant guarantees a long day in the Kempen nature. This route also takes you through some old hamlets and through the village of Westerhoven.

Kempen landscape
The route takes you across De Groote Heide and through the Leenderbos. This Kempen landscape with its small height differences was created during the last ice age by deposits of sand. Heathland, forests and winding paths: it is wonderful to cycle here. In the vast and silent coniferous forests below Aalst and Waalre you will pass several silent fens. A little later you drive through the valleys of the Dommel and the Keersop, unspoilt landscapes where you can still see hay fields and wooded banks here and there.

Cozy Westerhoven
In Westerhoven you can make a stopover at Het Wapen van Westerhoven. The neo-Gothic St. Servatius Church from 1855 is located on the Dorpsstraat. The adjacent parsonage dates from 1861. On the Dommel you pass De Venbergsemolen. This watermill was first mentioned in a document from 1227. In 1331 it became the ban mill of the Norbertine Priory of Postel.

St. Valentine's Chapel
If you want to see a Brabant chapel including a wonderful well, you can enter the sandy path of the Loverensedijk from the Provincialeweg. After a minute's drive you will arrive at the St. Valentine's Chapel, a national monument from 1947. During the construction of the current chapel, 4 oak beams were exposed, which prove that there was already a chapel in the Middle Ages. Next to the chapel is a well that, according to tradition, dates back to the eighth century. Medicinal properties were attributed to the water. Saint Valentinus was mainly invoked for epilepsy, fever and skin disorders. Striking: the water in the well is higher than that of the Keersop flowing past it.