This walk is one of the Dutch-Waterline walks in the Biesbosch Line:
You can download a PDF with this walk here.
Starting and ending point: the parking lot at the Janus Baks Bastion at the end of the Hoogstraat in Woudrichem.
A beautiful Sunday morning, gorgeous cloud cover and a nice walk ahead, we are ready!
From the parking lot at the Janus Baks Bastion, we walk along the small harbor and turn left at 62, up the Schapendam, enjoying the Woerkum skyline (the windmill and Martinus church) out of Woudrichem over the Hoge Maasdijk. At the end left again at 67, up the Maasdijk.
Tip: descend the dike and walk along the river side, a lot nicer and quieter (you'll miss 60 but can continue to node 02). We have a view of the river the whole way and see cattle and konik horses paddling on the opposite side (Munnikenland). At 02 we climb the dike again and keep left, on the paved path towards 01. We enjoy beautiful views and the wind in our hair. With some regularity we are passed by Sunday morning platoons, recreational cyclists whom we will probably see again at the next terrace.
Arriving at 01, we descend the embankment to the left and walk towards 28. There we walk straight ahead, keeping the houses on our left. Arriving at the top we turn left towards the lock. Please note that the junction system ends here and you must continue to rely on us.
We follow the bike path until we see the brown referral signs to "De Buurman," which we gladly follow. This restaurant is located near the battery of Poederoijen, a wonderful place to give your feet a rest (and yes, the cyclists have landed too!).
After this pleasant break, we take the same road back. However, now not left towards the provincial road, but straight ahead. In the bend to the right, we keep left and take the path of the Forestry Commission, called "Poederoijensehoek" (we are shown the way by 2 deer!).
At the end of this path we cross (carefully!) the provincial road and again take a footpath of Staatsbosbeheer, this time called 'Boezem van Brakel'. We keep following this beautiful dike path along streams, nut trees, shelters and the Battery under Brakel until we reach the Waal dike, where we turn left. Now pay attention: we follow this path until the 2nd turn left (bicycle path). We follow that path, at the T-junction we turn right to finally turn right again at the next T-junction. We now walk through the 'Waarden bij Loevestein', between the beautiful cattle and konik horses. Enjoying the surroundings we walk on to the entrance bridge of Slot Loevestein, where we enjoy the atmosphere of yesteryear. Whistling, we walk the last bit to the ferry that takes us back to Woudrichem.
For current sailing times, visit Voetveerwoudrichem.nl.
A particularly successful walk through the Line Landscape!