Walking route Galgenwiel - Plantloon

Plantloon Estate is part of National Park De Loonse en Drunense Duinen. But instead of drifting sands you will find a watery area with long lanes and nice forest paths in the English landscape style. A beautiful walking route of 4.5 kilometers is marked with red arrows. You start and end the route at the parking lot across from eatery De Galgenwiel, which also houses a local tourist information point. The ideal address to start or end your walk.
You walk around and over the Galgenwiel. This pond was created by a breach in a dike when the river Maas burst its banks. There used to be a gallows on this spot. You can read the whole story on the information panel at the site. Striking are the avenue trees; mainly beeches and pedunculate oaks. These stately trees give the estate allure and provide a beautiful habitat for numerous birds, including woodpeckers. The meadows also provide good nesting places for various birds, such as the goldfinch. The varied landscape provides a good habitat for various species of mice, which in turn attract predators such as buzzards, owls and sparrow hawks.
In the middle of the area is an old peat canal. The marshlands in this area made it possible to extract peat, and the peat canal was built to transport it to the big cities. You can read more about this on the information panels at the site as well.