Leenderbos and Groote Heide 23 km

1. Wasp tower
1.1 Leave the car park via the blue route at the rear.
This part of the Leenderbos is the oldest, planted around 1932. Sturdy Douglas firs and pines, but also with a lot of deciduous wood in between, such as oak and birch. There are several works of art along the path, including a'Construction for 100 wasps\\\'.
1.2 Past the field RA: now follow the white posts to the ponds.
These were originally fish breeding ponds, now overflow basins and water reservoirs for the Tongelreep.
1.3 LA, follow the water all the way, ignore white to the left.
From the viewing hut you have a beautiful view over overflow basins and the birds that pass here.
1.4 At cycle route sign 55, go LA.

2 Large grazers
2.1 At cattle grid RA through the Lowveld.
Scottish Highlanders graze here and a lot of forest has recently been felled. The result is an open corridor that reconnects some fragmented heathlands.
2.2 Follow the through route. That's how you come
2.3 at a bench at the edge of the forest. Here LA, within the grid.
2.4 Through the folding gate and RD to the fields.
2.5 Here LA.
2.6 Then second path with barrier RA.

3 Between camps
3.1 After the barrier, follow the curves of the path.
Between the camps, old farmlands in the heath, which were protected against drifting sand by a wall with oaks.
3.2 After the next barrier at T-spl RA
3.3 Then LA along meadow.
3.4 At the RD junction, into the woods.
3.5 RT at the end, along the Dorven grid.
3.6 At T-spl LA,
3.7 then RA at second intersection.
3.8 At the next intersection RD to the orange post.

4 Dal van Tongelreep
4.1 Along orange post nr 2300 RA
4.2 At fields RD, 
4.3 then at exit before bush LA.
4.4 Go through the swing gate RD.
(If the Tongelreepdal is inaccessible due to high water levels, then follow the button from the orange post: 40, 56, 57, 70, direction 71, but straight on to Achelse Kluis.)
On the right you can oversee the area from the watchtower.
Until 1989, the large plain along the path was still farmland belonging to the Trappists of the Achelse Kluis. Now nature restoration is the main goal of the new owner, Staatsbosbeheer. The groundwater level has risen, the stream meanders through the site again and cattle graze there. The trees along the old stream are dead, but the woodpeckers know what to do with that.
4.5 RD across grassland, further along willow grove (on the right).
4.6 Through swing gate, then LA over lane.
4.7 At parking RA to Achelse Kluis.

5 Great Heath
5.1 Walking back towards the parking lot.
5.2 Before parking RA and
5.3 first path LA (there is a boundary marker here).
5.4 On dirt road with cycle path RA.
5.5 Then first path LA (at the fireman's post with no. 22) to the edge of the heath.
5.6 At the fencing RA, follow the path.
5.7 After bush at T-spl LA, again along heath.
Km 5.8 Follow the path to T-spl with barrier : LA wide dirt road, which curves almost immediately to the right.
5.9 Look for a swing gate on the left. Go through swing gate, follow path RD, at birch bend to the left.
5.10 Go through the swing gate at the bank and follow the path diagonally to the right.
Km 5.11 Cross the dirt road with the cycle path at the intersection, RD via a wide sand road. Stay on the main route and ignore right and left turns.
5.12 At the end at the birch grove RA along a narrow stream.
5.13 At field LA along ditch and through gale thicket.
5.14 At the end of the fields RT along the orange post (no. 2260).

6 From the Ice Age / shortened route connection
6.1 Continue to follow the path along the edge of the forest for fifteen minutes.
6.2 In the bend at fire station no. 17, about 100 m before the farm, LA.
There are very few straight roads in the Leenderbos; they are almost all curvy. During the construction of the forest, the heath paths were maintained.
6.3 RD until you have crossed the dirt road with cycle path.
6.4 Then diagonally to the right sand path (own road).
6.5 At the T-spl RA.
At the bench you can take a short path to the beautiful Klein Hasselsven. A textbook example of a pingo ruin, a perfectly round fen on the spot where an enormously heavy ice lump melted away at the end of the ice age.
6.6 Resume the route and
6.7 at T-spl go RA over dirt road with cycle path, Bruggerdijk.

7 Rural
7.1 Follow the road to Leenderstrijp, also called Strijp.
This is a typical Kempen village, with a triangular center and farms along the length of the street.
7.2 Go RA at the crossroads and
7.3 at the T-spl LA, past café De Hospes, with terrace (local bus stop 200).
7.4 Next to the café LA through the alley, at lindes again LA.
7.5 At ANWB mushroom 23830 RA. There you will pass the St. John the Baptist Chapel.
This chapel is located at the end of a beautiful avenue of trees.

8 Stand mill
Further on at the edge of the forest, a mill is under construction, the work of Frans Hagenaars and André van Overdijk, who are rebuilding the old Heimolen, on a slightly smaller scale. The original post mill perished in 1940 during a heavy autumn storm. Feel free to check out the bulletin board.
8.1 Further on, 200 m in the forest, at the second picnic set RA.
8.2 Then always RD, a bit along the cycle path, but do not bend along. Just RD.
8.3 At the four-fork also RD.
8.4 Only at the T-spl do you go LA.
8.5 Follow this dirt road until you come across the red posts (Leenderroute). If they're in the walking direction, you're on the right track.
8.6 Keep following the red route, another 500 m to the parking lot.