Bike junction route Galeiweg: 8 - 2 - 4 - (27) - 11 - 10 - 22 - 30 - 22 - 10 - 29 - 15 - 18 - 16 - 21 - 22 - 20 - 8
Number of km: 27 km
Starting point: Biesbosch MuseumEiland, Hilweg 2 in Werkendam
You park at the Biesbosch MuseumEiland where there is free parking and a charging point for electric bikes. You follow the route towards the Spieringsluis which connects the Biesbosch and the Nieuwe Merwede.
Enjoy the rugged nature and winding bike paths during the Galeiweg bike route. Stop halfway for lunch or a drink. There are plenty of picnic spots along the way. You will pass Fort Steurgat(Unesco World Heritage Site). This fort is now inhabited and served to close off the Nieuwe Merwede and the Steurgat. Feel like shopping and stretching your legs? Take a trip to junction 30. Then you'll come to the center of Werkendam with a pleasant shopping street on the Hoogstraat. Then end the route again at the Biesbosch MuseumEiland. You can come here all year round for coffee or lunch in the restaurant area. Or stick a museum visit behind your bike ride and learn about the history of the Biesbosch: how the freshwater tidal area was created after the Sint Elisabethflood of 1421 and about the inhabitants and their crafts.
Junction cycling route Biesbosch: 8 - 2 - 4 - 27 - 11 - 10 - 29 - 15 - 18 - 17 - 19 - 20 - 8
Number of km: 23 km
Starting point: Biesbosch MuseumEiland, Hilweg 2 in Werkendam
You park at the Biesbosch MuseumEiland where there is free parking and a charging station for electric bikes.
During the Biesbosch Cycle Route, you will cycle through naturalized willows, over islands and along creeks. It takes you past the Spieringsluis lock that connects the Biesbosch and the Nieuwe Merwede. Cycle through beautiful nature and rest along the way with a cup of coffee. On the route you pass Fort Steurgat, on the edge of the Biesbosch. This (now inhabited) fortified town served to close off the Nieuwe Merwede and the Steurgat. You then cycle back towards Biesbosch MuseumEiland, which is open all year round. Here you can enjoy a cup of coffee or a delicious lunch in the restaurant area or an educational museum visit.
Junction points Jantjesplaat - Deeneplaat: 85 - 82 - 81 - 16 - 11 - 10 - 93 - 94 - 62 - 97 - 98 - 50 - 60 - 58 - 57 - 13 - 56 - 55 - 52 - 53 - 54 - 55 - 56 - 57 - 58 - 14 - 59 - 60 - 50 - 80 - 95 - 94 - 93 - 10 - 11 - 15 - 85
Number of km depending on starting point: 21,8 km if you start at Biesbosch MuseumEiland. 16,9 km if you start at Jachthaven van Oversteeg.
Starting point: Biesbosch MuseumEiland, Hilweg 2 in Werkendam or Jachthaven van Oversteeg, Spieringsluis 5 in Werkendam.
You park at the Biesbosch MuseumEiland or Oversteeg Marina where free parking is available. There is also a charging station for electric bikes at the Biesbosch MuseumEiland. You first walk around the Jantjesplaat. Here you pass by old and new parts of the Biesbosch: the old part consists of an overgrown willow forest with lots of shrubbery, and the new part was created after high water in the 1990s. Soil needed to improve the dikes was excavated there. Since then, a beautiful wetland has been created with crystal clear water that is crowded by birds.
Then you walk along the Deeneplaatweg to the Deeneplaat. This consists of 2 parts: the western part consists of a rough willow flood forest (parts of the area still flood at high water levels), the eastern part consists of grienden that are still maintained as they have been for centuries.
After exploring the Dane Plate, continue your way back to the Biesbosch MuseumEiland. The museum is open year-round. You can also come here for a cup of coffee or a delicious lunch in the restaurant area.
Short route, 8 km
This village has about 250 inhabitants, a real small core. You walk almost all the streets of this core. Along the Waardhuizenseweg there are fruit trees on the unbuilt side of the street, when the fruit is ripe you can pick it. You walk along the river Alm with benches designed by artists from the region to the end point.
Long route 15.5
On this route you also pass the picking trees on the Waardhuizenseweg. After crossing the village, turn right towards Pompveld. This road is not a nice walk, there is hard driving by cars, but it is the only way to get to the beautiful nature reserve. You stroll along the edges of this nature reserve, the core of the area is for wildlife. A wonderful rest area with wonderful places to picnic and enjoy!
From the starting point you walk in the direction of Werkendam. A vast, quiet stretch overlooking the various polders bordering the National Park De Biesbosch. You walk past Fort Bakkerskil, a fortified town belonging to the New Dutch Waterline, a special resting place!
You walk past mill De Vervoorne Polder to the other side of the A27, where Fort Altena is located. This fort is also part of the Nieuwe Hollandse Waterlinie and is well worth a visit. The road continues along a meandering dike through the village of Uppel to the south. On the way you will come across a number of mills and if a mill is running you can pay a visit. The millers are happy to show you how everything works. On this route you will come across farms selling produce. Just before Dussen you turn west again and walk back to Nieuwendijk.
At the starting point, you can reserve an extra in advance by calling +31183403274. There will be a knapsack waiting for you, filled with sandwiches, fruit and goodies. The cost is €7,50 and Marie will give you a free bottle of water with it.
Dussen is close to the Bergsche Maas River. This river was dug by hand at the beginning of the last century to protect 't Hertogenbosch from flooding. From the village you walk towards this river. Along the way you come across a free ferry. Even after more than a century, this is still a gesture to compensate farmers for being separated by the river from their fields on the other side. Everyone gets to enjoy this, because crossing the river costs nothing.
Towards Meeuwen you come across a lovely picnic area. You cross the provincial road (pay attention) and then walk back into the rural part of Dussen. After junction 70 you walk past the windmill into the nature reserve Kornsche Boezem, also called the Kleine Biesbosch. This is also a great place for a picnic. Along an old dike with monumental farms and a clog maker you walk to the end point.
When you walk, you can take your time to discover the world around you. You slow down and encounter the most beautiful things. Be it nature, heritage or the activity on the water or the farmland.
In the Biesbosch Line there is a network of hiking nodes. You can easily map out your own route along the numbered signs and choose the distance that suits you.
In each individual core of the municipality of Altena there is also a mapped out route along the hiking nodes. These are collected in the walking guide that is available free of charge at the VVV Biesboschlinie folder posts or digitally on this page.
The Gijster is one of three reservoirs in the Biesbosch.
Water from the Meuse River is stored here. It is used for drinking water and for industry.
You need experience to sail this route. You will sail much of the route on the Amer River, where you will encounter commercial shipping.
The great thing about this route is that you paddle through narrow creeks just a few miles away, where beavers may cross your path. The water here is so clear that you can see the fish swimming next to your canoe. In the narrowest creeks, it is sometimes navigating over and between logs and overhanging branches. This only adds to the contrast with boating on the river and makes the trip more adventurous.
In the Ditch of St. John you pass under the Little Bridge of St. John. When at the end of WW2 the south of the Netherlands was liberated, but not yet the north, this little bridge played an important role. The occupiers used the bridge to go from south to north, and refugees went south instead. They were helped by the line-crossers who knew the area like the back of their hand.
The resistance intercepted many Germans near the little bridge. The line-crosser Piet van den Hoek (? 2015) from Werkendam was awarded the Willemsorde for his part in the resistance with the Partisans of the Biesbosch unit. A round of Gijster is a route full of contrasts and that is precisely what makes this ride so special.
Note: If you come with your own canoe or sup, please start from the canoe pier in front of the parking lot of Marina Vissershang. No need to climb the stairs.
You can rent a canoe at Jachthaven Van Oversteeg Werkendam or at DOCKS vissershang Hank. Contact the appropriate party for availability and canoe rentals.
The Doolhof is a willow flood forest in the heart of the Biesbosch. It can only be reached by water. In winter you imagine yourself in a mysterious swamp.
A willow floodplain forest -such as the Doolhof- is rare not only in the Netherlands, but throughout Europe. They are the result of naturalization of a willow from which wood was chopped and processed into, for example, stems for tools or made into zinc pieces that were sunk to prevent erosion of dikes. For the latter, mainly brushwood was used; the toes and twigs of willow.
You could leave your canoe for a walk through the willow floodplain forest, but be careful not to get lost. The place is rough and soggy. The dark pools have the smell of rotting tree stumps. Here you are in the grienden of death. A rugged piece of Biesbosch where nature rules. But, oh, how beautiful it is here! Irises, balsam, mosses, ferns, mushrooms, herbs. You'll feast your eyes. In this area you might just run into a fox, or a spoonbill, while deer and rats also sniff around.
Bird lovers enjoy coming here as much as the merry whistlers themselves. Within the Biesboch, this is a unique piece of nature that you can explore at your leisure, and the Maze Route goes mostly through narrow creeks. Feel free to reserve a day for the entire route and hike, as there is plenty to see and the area deserves to be taken quietly. If only because you have an even better chance of spotting a rare bird or encountering a beaver.
Note: If you come with your own canoe or sup, please start from the canoe pier in front of the parking lot. No need to climb the stairs.
You can rent a canoe at Jachthaven Van Oversteeg Werkendam or at DOCKS vissershang Hank. Contact the appropriate party for availability and canoe rentals.
This tour is recommended if map-reading is not your strongest suit. Getting lost is impossible while experiencing the ultimate get-away-from-it-all feeling.
If you don't have much canoeing experience yet, this round trip is really for you. You can paddle quietly and easily spend half a day on the road. You start at Fort Bakkerskil and while paddling between reeds and a nostalgic hand-pull ferry you head south. You pass islands, hamlets, meadows and a jungle-like ditch in one of the Bakkerskil's tributaries. Don't let overhanging branches stop you here, but sail under the overgrown bridge until you reach the wickerworkers' hut. This spot is the icing on the cake. Such spooky and quiet spots should be looked for with a lantern, but we are happy to reveal this one. Here you can stretch your legs and rest.
The out-and-back on the Bakkerskil is a beautiful route for true nature lovers. Although the little stream flows through the Oostwaardpolder, here too you experience the Brabant jungle. Be sure to make the trips into the dead arms marked on the map. The one halfway along the route brings you to a fairytale spot where you can also moor and picnic in peace.
You can rent a canoe at Jachthaven Van Oversteeg Werkendam or at DOCKS vissershang Hank. Contact the appropriate party for availability and canoe rentals.
Overview of all our routes in the Nieuwe Hollandse Waterlinie