This route joins The Fortified Town Route at the aqueduct near Uitwijk. Pay attention at the crossing near the pumping station in Meeuwen. Here you not only have to cross, but also walk a short distance on the road with your canoe/kayak. After 200 meters you can return to the water. Water pumping station Hagoort is also an interesting stop to take a closer look. This pumping station takes care of maintaining the water level in the polder land behind it.
Parallel to the Bergsche Maas runs the North drainage canal. That's where this tour begins, near De Peerenboomse Haven. The round trip skims and crosses the villages of Dussen, Meeuwen and Babyloniënbroek. It is a fairly open route, straight through the polders of Brabant. Do you know the area from a hiking or biking trail? Then you will be surprised by this tour, because you will come across places that are otherwise hidden from you. Characteristic are the beautiful views. Sometimes literally between the legs of grazing cattle. Almost this was a 'forgotten' route, but fortunately rediscovered in time! It is a gem of a route that should definitely not be missed in your itinerary planning!
Please note that you cannot rent canoes on this route and we unfortunately do not deliver canoes to location. Don't own your own canoe? Then choose a route that starts at a point where you can rent canoes:Jachthaven Van Oversteeg in Werkendam or DOCKS vissershang in Hank. Contact the relevant party for availability and canoe rental.
Overview of all our routes in the Nieuwe Hollandse Waterlinie
The round trip around Almkerk is 12 km of sailing, but if you really don't want to miss anything, take the route to Giessen as well and sail from fort to fort!
The route on the Alm passes notable heritage and lies between Fort Altena and Fort Giessen. At the triangle of waters, near the picturesque village of Uitwijk, you pass an aqueduct. This, now a municipal monument, was built in the 1960s to separate two catchment areas. A boat crossing was installed here, as was also done north of Fort Altena near Uppel. A boat transfer was used to hoist a maintenance boat over the weir. You don't need something like this for your canoe, but it is special to encounter a rare landscape feature like this no less than twice on this trip.
Back to the aqueduct: at this junction it's all about which way you want to go. You lift your canoe into the right channel and continue your route. The route largely follows the Alm River, which branches off from the Waal in Roman times.
Roman artifacts were recovered on the stream ridge. From the Middle Ages on, the Alm was a tributary of the Meuse. Today, the Alm is no longer in direct connection with the major rivers.
You start at Fort Altena and can sail right through the polder to near Fort Giessen. Both forts are part of the New Dutch Waterline; an 85 kilometer long line with 45 forts, 6 fortresses and 2 castles. It is the largest national monument in the Netherlands which also includes Fort Steurgat, Fort Bakkerskil, Slot Loevestein, Fort Vuren and the fortified towns of Woudrichem and Gorinchem.
You are welcome to visit the brasserie on Friday, Saturday and Sunday from 10:30 am to 5 pm.
Please note that you cannot rent canoes on this route and we unfortunately do not deliver canoes to location. Don't own your own canoe? Then choose a route that starts at a point where you can rent canoes:Jachthaven Van Oversteeg in Werkendam or DOCKS vissershang in Hank. Contact the relevant party for availability and canoe rental.
Overview of all our routes in the Nieuwe Hollandse Waterlinie
On this route you will find special monuments, and we have highlighted some of them and marked them on the map with a dark blue star.
NEWENDIJK
't Kasteeltje
Alexander den Dekker has a house built in 1953 in Nieuwendijk on the corner of the Rijksweg and the Buitendijk, popularly called 't Kasteeltje because of the stately appearance of the property. Den Dekker owned a lot of land in Nieuwendijk and the surrounding area. When the building was built, a rent room with a safe was set up in the building, so the rent that the tenants came to pay could be stored safely in the safe immediately. The Den Dekker family crest hangs above the fireplace. Many administrators descend from the Den Dekker family; for example, Alexander is dike reeve of one of the many water boards. Although the name may suggest otherwise, a dike grave is not a title of nobility, but someone who watches over the safety of the dikes. This dikewarden must have had a lot of confidence in that, after all, in the 1953 flood disaster the water had still stood against the Buitendijk.
ALMKERK
't Hulpgat
The name on the farm near the campsite of the same name has its origins in the nineteenth century. Auxiliary holes are intended to allow the water to be discharged quickly back into the outside water during a flood. The auxiliary holes have been constructed in several places in the dike and are recognizable because the dike is slightly lower there. In the 19th century 't Hulpgat near the campsite could discharge its water to the outside water via the Papsluis of 1815 in Nieuwendijk.
UPPEL
Boat Transfer
Boat crossings were built during the land consolidation around 1960. They were combined with a weir. Boat crossings are still very rare, very characteristic and a remarkable image in the landscape. They are designed to lift the maintenance boat over the weir.
On this route you will find a number of watercourses; we have highlighted some of them and marked them on the map with an aqua blue star
DUSSEN
Kornsche Boezem
The water collected in the Kornse Boezem was discharged in the Middle Ages through the Korn lock, directly into the Biesbosch. A boezem is meant to collect polder water and discharge it through a sluice to a river or outside water like here to the Biesbosch.
Wiel
The farm Dijk en Wielzicht on the dike between Almkerk and Dussen is a national monument. The farm honors its name, next to the farm is a wheel. These wheels along dikes always remind of dike breaches in the past. Also near the water tower in Uppel is a wheel along the dike.
On this route you will find pumping stations and locks; we have highlighted some of them and marked them on the map with a yellow and red star.
With the digging of the Bergsche Maas, three particularly beautiful pumping stations were built at the beginning of the twentieth century "as a result of the law to divert the mouth of the Maas.
The Three Locks pumping station in Nieuwendijk received water from three supply channels from three storage basins. Initially a steam pumping station, it switched to electric pumping in 1935 until the land consolidation in the 1960s. The steam pumping station is now occupied, as are the homes once built for the machinist, machine operator and stoker.
The Bleekkil-Oostkil pumping station in Hank pumped the water away by means of electricity and not with steam as was usual at that time. Thus Hank got its own power plant already at the beginning of the twentieth century. In the surrounding polders, 21 pump pumping stations were built that were powered by electricity from the pumping station. At Buitendijk 140 there is still such a pumping station from 1902. Other pump pumping stations are hidden in the woods along Akkerpad and at Vissershang Harbor. Along the dike on the Steurgat are now two modern pumping stations. On either side of the Bleekkil pumping station are the Vierbanse and Hillegat locks. The Vierbanse sluice is next to pump pumping station at Buitendijk 140 and is still barely visible. HIllegatse sluice bears the date 1699, making it one of the oldest masonry structures in the 1646 dike.
Whoever steps off at the small harbor on the Peereboom sees a glimpse of the Bergsche Maas, the grand water work of the 19th century. The polder workers still toiled with shovels and wheelbarrows before the Maas estuary was moved. The steam shovel pumping station on the Peereboom, like the other pumping stations in Hank and Nieuwendijk, was put into operation in 1902 and served until the land consolidation. All that remains of the complex is the machinist's house; the pumping station was demolished in the 1980s.
On this route you will find a number of mills. We have highlighted some of them and marked them on the map with a green star
Mills
In the polders along the three dikes there are a number of water mills; the Vervoornemolen, the Zuid-Hollandse molen, the Noordeveldse molen, the Doornse molen, the Zandwijkse and Uitwijkse molen. At the Zandwijkse and Uitwijkse molen there is also the Rijswijks pumping station along the Liniepad. It was built after one of the seven mills of the Zevenbansche Boezem burned down. The mills used wind power to dry our polders, but lost their function for good in the 1960s. The mills can still turn, but that is more for show. See the sails turning in the wind? Then feel free to step off, the millers are happy to tell you about their mill.
On this route you will find military heritage. The forts are indicated on the map as starting points
New Dutch Waterline
While dikes were built in past centuries to keep the water out, along the way you also pass parts of the Nieuwe Hollandse Waterlinie with military monuments that embraced the water. Of particular note is the Papsluis lock on the bicycle dike near Fort Bakkerskil. This sluice from 1815 lies like a fish on dry land in the middle of the polder landscape and thus reminds of the time when the Biesbosch was not so far reclaimed. The Papsluis is the southernmost inlet sluice of the Nieuwe Hollandse Waterlinie. This impeller sluice could be opened both at high and low Biesbosch water to flood the land (inundate). Fort Bakkerskil was built to protect the Papsluis and is within shooting distance of the lock. Fort Altena is the largest fort of the Nieuwe Hollandse Waterlinie, the oldest part was built in 1847. Both Fort Altena and Fort Bakkerskil are now oases of tranquility where it is good to relax on the terrace. But once soldiers found shelter here in times of war threat. Another special part of the New Dutch Waterline are the concrete shelters built just before World War II. They provided shelter for soldiers walking in the open field.
New, newer, newest 1461, 1646, 1970
The Sint Elisabeth flood of 1421 turned large parts of the Biesbosch Line into one big inland sea. The landscape in the wide surroundings was desolate. Only around 1450 did part of the land fall dry, so reclamation of the area began with the construction of a new dike from Woudrichem through Werkendam to Dussen. The dike is completed in 1461 and is given many different names, such as the Oude Zeedijk in Dussen. Still today, the dike forms the boundary between sea clay and river clay.
But even after the construction of this dike, the polder workers and farmers continued to reclaim the land from the sea. Thus, in 1646 the "New" dike was constructed from the Schans in Werkendam via Hank further towards Dussen. Along the new dike, the villages of Nieuwendijk and Hank were then formed.
Preliminary completion of the reclamation of this part of the Biesbosch is the construction of the Steurgatdijk between Werkendam and Hank during the land consolidation of the Oostwaard. The Bruine Kil, Bakkerskil, Bleeke Kil and Oostkil were closed off in the 1960s, and so ebb and flow disappeared from the area, but traces of the water can still be found on the three dikes of the reclaimed land.
You can rent a (electric) bicycle from various rental locations. Contact the relevant party for availability and bike rental.
Overview of all our routes in the Nieuwe Hollandse Waterlinie
Cycling & Stories along the Line
You are in the southernmost part of the New Dutch Waterline. Here you will find the largest collection of WW1 shelters in the Netherlands. For a long time, many of these shelters were not visibly present in the landscape. Some even disappeared completely underground. Farmers who wanted to get rid of one of these shelters dug a hole and the stand was dumped in. Others used it as a pigsty or made a flower box out of loose parts.
Around 2009, the shelters, and their historical value, were rediscovered. Erfgoed Altena enthusiastically picked up the project to make the shelters visible. Helped by Arie Schouten of the Menno van Coehoorn Foundation and driven by Kees van Maastrigt (who wrote a book about mobilization in this region), more shelters were discovered which, together with the forts, listening wells, sluices and trenches, formed the WW1 line; a unique way of national defense. Parts of the country could be inundated, or flooded to stop the enemy. In WW1, the Netherlands remained neutral and the army was mobilized but not at war. In WW2, the Netherlands was occupied by the German army for five years.
Want to know more about the New Dutch Waterline?Then visit Fort Giessen and the adjacent education park. Check in advance for current opening hours at www.forten.nl
You can rent a (electric) bicycle from various rental locations. Contact the relevant party for availability and bike rental.
Overview of all our routes in the Nieuwe Hollandse Waterlinie
We put our ear to the ground with excerpt 6 of the audio tour:
Meanwhile ... at the military station ...
The military office in Uitwijk was not the only one in the area. Every village along the line had a military office, employing officials called scribes, who arranged matters for the stationed soldiers, such as leave and pay (salary).
The military office knew which soldier could be found where. Perhaps at a fort, in the barn at the Koppel, in an encampment or even billeted with civilians. Letters from home could be delivered quickly to their destination.
A telegraph operator also always worked at such a military station. With a telegraph, which converted signs into an electric on-off signal, information was sent over long distances without time difference; the telegram.
Not always were such modern techniques used. In every place where a commander was stationed, you would also find a pigeon post. Partly because telephone cables had not yet been installed everywhere, the carrier pigeon was actually a common form of communication. Sending a postcard is something of all times. A week after the start of mobilization, a soldier sent his first postcard home. In telegram style, that is, and he did so in order to put as much information on it as possible.
Oostwaardpad 23 km (can be shortened to 7.5 km, 8.5 km and 15 km detours)
Sometimes you think you know all the places in your own area. How surprising it is then to discover something new! And not just anything, but something you would like to take others to because it has made such an impression on you.
You'll find spots like that along the Oostwaardpad; a hiking trail across farmland in the Oostwaard on the edge of National Park De Biesbosch. The route runs along and across fields and creeks. You walk, marvel and take a ferry across the Bakkerskil.
Each time you walk the trail, the view is different. The fields are still bare, just sown, full of crops or have just been harvested. You see the farmers toiling and plowing.
Enjoy the flora and fauna in the vast landscape and be moved by fairy-tale still lifes you just happen to find yourself in during this hike.
The route on the Oostwaardpad brings tranquility above all. If you want a relaxing walk through a beautiful natural area, then you should really explore this part of the Biesbosch Line.
Sometimes a deer suddenly appears at the edge of a field or a beaver swims in a body of water. Of course, you never know where and when. Nature is unpredictable and unimaginably beautiful. That is what makes the Oostwaard so attractive for peace seekers and nature lovers.
Learn more about the Oostwaard Route, and more routes across farmland, at the Agrarian Nature Association's folder. Keep in mind that the route can be very muddy when it rains a lot.
Overview of all our routes in the Nieuwe Hollandse Waterlinie
Werk aan de Bakkerskil, or Fort Bakkerskil for short, is one of four forts of the Nieuwe Hollandse Waterlinie in the Biesbosch Line. The fort served to protect the southern inundation sluice, the Papsluis. This flooded parts of the Biesbosch Line with the aim of protecting the political and economic heart of our country.
If you look at Fort Altena from above, you will see something remarkable that we owe to Napoleon. He laid a road around the fort; the current A27 could not make this turn and now runs right across the fort grounds. The oldest part of the complex is the tower fort. This is because round walls are stronger than straight walls and more resistant to shelling. Around the tower fort was a moat. The contours of this are in the pavement in front of the entrance to the tower fort. Fort Altena is the longest fort of the New Dutch Waterline, 420 meters long!
For the construction of Fort Giessen, a temporary narrow gauge railway was built to bring in building materials. This came by ship via the river Maas near Andel.
This fort is one of the few forts located outside the inundation area. This is because the fort was built on a levee. In the seemingly flat polder landscape, there are levees that are one to two meters higher than the rest of the polder. To keep the artillery at a distance from Woudrichem and Loevestein as a forward post, Fort Giessen was built on such a ridge.
This fort is now lived in, but in times of mobilization it housed 184 soldiers and 1 washerwoman. A separate room was reserved for her.
Soldiers stationed at the fort were allowed to attend cultural performances in the village of Werkendam. Members of De maatschappij tot Nut van 't Algemeen were allowed to bring three soldiers each. Love sprang up between the youngsters. Thus Pieter Post from Moddergat in Friesland married a Werkendam beauty. The daughter of this couple became a celebrity on Dutch television. Grietje Post will remain forever associated with the program Man bijt Hond.
Colloquially, this ancient fortified town is called Woerekum. It is located at a strategic point at the confluence of the Maas and Waal rivers on the border of South Holland, Gelderland and North Brabant.
The city arose on a riverbank embankment (today's Hoogstraat). Under the name UUalricheshem, the first mention of today's Woudrichem was made around the year 866. The fortified town is still largely intact. It is impossible to get lost there, with the great 16th century tower as the calibration and centerpiece of the town.
There are two inundation sluices in the Biesbosch Line. Inundation is the deliberate flooding of land. The water was deep enough that one could not walk there and too shallow to sail. The line was titled: the secret weapon of the Netherlands, but was nullified because attacking troops no longer came by land, but also by air.
You can rent a (electric) bicycle from various rental locations. Contact the relevant party for availability and bike rental.
Overview of all our routes in the Nieuwe Hollandse Waterlinie
'Villages and polders enclosed in vastness'
What is an island without dikes?
Unimaginable right? And right there you are!
On an island surrounded by river and old sea dikes.
The unique thing about this tour is that 99.9% of the time it goes over the dike. And over some of the most beautiful dikes in the Netherlands! You'll pass through the historic fortified town of Woudrichem and one of the largest inland ports in Europe, among other places. Enjoy rugged vistas of the ever-changing rivers, the sight of the castle from which Hugo de Groot managed to escape, centuries-old mills and monumental farms.
The Biesbosch Line can only be reached by bridge or ferry. Often you do not even realize that you have come here by water. It is only when you are here that you may notice the many dikes. They meander along with the rivers and when you cycle over them, a dike offers you a beautiful stage to enjoy the view.
During the round trip through the Biesbosch Line you have views of the Merwede, the Maas, the Heusdens Canal, the Bergsche Maas and the creeks in National Park De Biesbosch: Jeppegat and Steurgat.
Start where you want and make your own journey through the Biesbosch Line.
Especially for the Pontjesdagen, foot-cycle ferry Boven 't Gat has created an art route. This route takes you via the ferries along all the sculptures of Altena.
You can rent a (electric) bicycle from various rental locations. Contact the relevant party for availability and bike rental.
Ode to the Island
Sonnet by Altena
Where the rivers guard your borders
Where ferry or bridge grants hesitant access
Where hard workers never forsake labor
Where storm surge and disaster have wept
Counts and knights inhabited your fields
Built their blockhouses and demanded tolls
Thou hadst thyself mentioned in the annals
Worthy, but sometimes also as a den of rascals
Now, my Altena, is only enjoyed
Of all the beauty that thou hast always offered
Villages and polders enclosed in vastness
Never again a front in the field of advance
Enemy and turncoats thou hast repelled
Voltreffer, clay island, robust as granite!
© Lizzy van Pelt