Door het Heidebos

In Wachtebeke, on the border between Waasland and Meetjesland, you can enjoy pleasant walks not only in the Provincial Domain of Puyenbroeck. For this trip to and through the Heidebos and back along the atmospheric Moervaart, you start in the center. At the Dorp, you can park at St. Catherine's Church (1199) (V). With the church on your right, you start towards the intersection. Passing a frituur - with a plaque for composer Camille Saman (1885-1974) - you cross over to Dr. Jules Persijn Square. Right at the end of the square, past the police station, turn right onto a busy road. Cross and go left. The first street on the right, Azalealaan, takes you past the Davidse Molen (1). In this residential area, you turn into the first street on the right, Begonialaan. Turn left into Rozenlaan and turn right into Parklaan. At the Post Office on the corner, turn left into Stationsstraat. Passing house number 105, the former station converted into a residence, the old railway has been replaced by a cement bike and walking path. Take this path to the right and follow it to the first intersection. Turn left (Axelvaardeken) and go past number 23 to the right. Passing the protected Oude Maalderij (on the right) and flower shop Van Eetvelde, you continue straight on the woodland path. At a T in the forest, turn left, following a Bloso bike route (blue arrow). At some houses, turn right. Across is the entrance to the fenced Heidebos (2), with parking and an information board. In this vast wooded area - 270 ha in Wachtebeke and Moerbeke, managed by Natuurpunt - you can wander along the paths or follow one (or more) of the three excellently signposted routes. The red walk (4 km) for example, takes you meandering through this mixed forest with plenty of open space, fences, bridges, information signs, and sturdy Galloway cattle. After the walk in the Heidebos, you return the way you came, a few hundred meters on the familiar road and straight on until the old railway bed. Cross the old railway bed to the narrow path that becomes a wider agricultural road, returning to the inhabited world. You emerge from Puttestraat into the Kalve neighborhood (with Wachtebeke agglomeration sign). A moment to the left on the sidewalk and then cross the busier Kalve towards Kalvebrug Street. A few hundred meters further lies the Kalvebrug (3) itself: a protected monument. Across the Moervaart, you walk before the Canoe and Kayak Center (at cycle junction 83) turning right along the water. The Moervaart - now only recreational - takes you effortlessly back to Wachtebeke. For walkers, cyclists, and canoeists, it is a few kilometers enjoying the picturesque banks with pollarded willows and weeping willows, along the marshy nature reserve De Reepkens with its inlets, Puyenbroeck in the distance to the left and an information panel about a nature cycling route. With the Ghent Canal zone in the distance, you reach the Overledebrug, with a bench and picnic table. You can go straight across the bridge to the church, but for a nice detour, turn left and continue with the water now to your left. Walk further along the marina and rest home. Where the Langelede flows into the Moervaart, turn right along the water, past a pumping station until you reach a wider road. Cross over and follow the bank of the Langelede with the weeping willows for a while, and take a gravel path between houses 2 and 4 towards the Dorp. There turn left towards the church, passing the beautifully restored Vierschaar (1579-1610) (4).

Caution: dogs are NOT allowed on the red and green walks!