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.

Junction hiking trail De Pannekoek: 85 - 83 - 82 - 81 - 83 - 85
Number of km: 2 km

Starting point: Biesbosch MuseumEiland, Hilweg 2 in Werkendam

The Pannekoek is a beautiful area full of pollard willows, perhaps the most common tree in this area. During this route you can have a nice wander around on the way there or back before continuing the route. On the Pannekoek is also a so-called cut willow with different species of willow. This willow is harvested annually and the branches used to be made into baskets and baskets and also used to bind large bundles of wood together.

You park at the Biesbosch MuseumEiland. There is ample free parking and a charging station for electric bicycles. The museum is open all year round. You can visit the museum, of course, but also enjoy a cup of coffee or a delicious lunch in the restaurant area.

Our storyteller Prisca took a look at pollarding the willows at De Pannekoek and wrote a story about it.

Tip!
In the winter months, you can come and watch the pollarding of the willows in the grove (provided you keep some distance). Especially in the winter period it is wonderful walking in the area. The peace and quiet are exceptional and along the way you will see many animals such as hares and different types of birds. With some luck you might even spot an industrious beaver!

A cycling route 'Ronde van Altena' along all 21 cores of the municipality of Altena. Tour over dikes, through villages and across the polder, along the fortified town and through the Biesbosch. Meet up with friends, cycle together, refuel on a terrace and enjoy everything our beautiful municipality has to offer.

Download the routes as GPX 80 km and GPX 105 km (including loop Biesbosch)

Biesbosch walk 10 - 14 km

De Biesbosch and water belong together like a kayak and paddle. From its first appearance after the Sint Elisabethflood in 1421 until today, the landscape in the Biesbosch has been defined by water. Yet the landscape has been transformed considerably in recent years. The Room for the River program changed our view of how we deal with water. We no longer just contain it, but give it space wherever possible. This results in dry feet and beautiful nature.

Strolling through The Pancake

To experience the wicker culture up close, a walk through De Pannekoek is highly recommended. You can deviate from the nodes here to have a nice stroll on the small paths. Some parts of this grove are maintained in the traditional way, others are not. There, nature is the boss and allowed a wild willow forest to develop.

Water buffalo in the Noordwaard

In the Noordwaard, water buffalo graze the areas outside the dikes, which is unique for the Netherlands. The buffalo feel very comfortable there. The area is wet, and they find plenty of food. The buffalo were released here for a specific purpose: they like to swim and travel long distances. Moreover, they are a lot bigger than Highland cattle or konik horses, which allows them to digest rough food such as old reeds or cattail, in places where other grazers do not come easily. It remains quite an experience to encounter one. Do keep enough distance. Water buffalo are not dangerous, but they are curious.

Polder Jantjesplaat

This polder is a piece of rugged wetland where agricultural polders were before 2013. A new piece of Biesbosch that has also already been discovered by the osprey and the bald eagle that like to hunt here.

Biesbosch museumeiland

At the Biesbosch MuseumEiland you can learn all about how we lived and live together with the water. From the first emergence after the St. Elisabeth Flood to smuggling routes in World War II, the exhibits cover it all.

Outside, you can experience for yourself how the Biesbosch prevents higher areas from flooding. In the scale model of the Biesbosch Beleving you can slide and turn knobs yourself to see how you influence the course of the water with polders and dikes.

After the walk, you can recover at museum café Biesonder over a cup of coffee or a sandwich.

ADDITIONAL TRIP

From node 10, extend your walk with a trip to De Wassende Maan. The round trip to this work of landscape art counts 4 km and is highly recommended. De Wassende Maan was designed by visual artist Paul de Kort. The artwork is a labyrinth of gullies and dikes. The water flows in and out with the tides; from the outside, in. A dynamic and natural work of art not to be missed.

To get there, follow nodes 10, 68 and 69.

Combine this tour with a walk on the Deeneplaat; an area consisting of willows, shrublands and willow floodplain forests. Characteristic of the Deeneplaat are the vletsloten. Driftwood was transported through these wide ditches with osier hooks. You also encounter valve culverts here. That may sound like a native duck species, but it is not. A valve culvert is an iron tube with a valve that allows water to flow out of the shag at low tide, but not in at high tide.

If you are looking for a route full of variety, this is a must. Because the route goes through narrow creeks and over wider waterways, you will have to deal with currents. Really a trip for the sporty canoeist. You can take a day for this route. You can stop for a picnic on the beaches and to stretch your legs a walk on the Deeneplaat is a must. It is surprisingly beautiful at any time of year, even on cold, gray days. As many as 130 species of plants grow there. Some with wonderful names, such as garlic without garlic, bird's milkweed and giant balsam. The latter is native to the Himalayas and can grow up to three meters tall. Its purple flowers bloom profusely in August.

A lot of Dane (a small species of swan) used to come here. That may explain the name Dane Plate. Nowadays, you encounter mute swans here on their way to the warm south. This is also where the rare root vole is still found. It is the only mammal in the Netherlands that lives in an isolated population. They are mostly active at night.

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 map of the Noordwaard shows the waterways with numbers. You can map out your own route along these nodes.

The Noordwaard is a flow-through area. Water levels are subject to the influx of river water. At high tide, the designated fields flood and the current will be stronger. It is then advisable to choose calmer waters.

The Noordwaard is a special area that has looked very different over the centuries. From countryside full of small hamlets, to inland sea after the Sint Elisabethflood of 1421. And then, via reclaimed land, to flood plain to make room for the river.

Here you can seek the silence and enjoy from the water, for example, a herd of grazing water buffalo or a fishing kingfisher. The creeks meander through the landscape, making the view surprisingly different each time.

You are not out of here just like that, as there are about thirty kilometers of boating route in this area and you do not need to be an experienced canoer to explore here. Just keep in mind that there is no canoe landing stage at the starting point. This may make it a little difficult to get on the water.

You can rent a canoe at Fort Bakkerskil in Nieuwendijk, Jachthaven Van Oversteeg in Werkendam or at DOCKS vissershang Hank. Contact the respective party for availability and canoe rental.

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.