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Leusden 14,5 km

Beautiful forest hike with lots of open spaces, through estate Den Treek-Henschoten – february 2018

Den Treek-Henschoten: a diverse forest with lots of open spaces

Summary

This is a nice route through nature area, mainly forest with open spaces filled with heather, grass, fens and peat. The forest consists of a diverse combination of type of trees, eg different conifers and decidious forest. The hike mainly crosses the estate Den Treek- Henschoten, a private nature area which is open to the public for free. Overall, a very enjoyable trail through the forest.

Even in wintertime an enjoyable hike

Description trail

The route is derived from the book “Wandelen over de Utrechtse Heuvelrug” by Rob Wolfs and Ad Snelderwaard, hike nr6, with just a small change to it (we took a small path in parallel to the originally intended trail for a few hundred meters).

The start of the hike, the parking lot, is already half in the forest, close to Leusden-zuid.  Most of the hike goes through a fine forest with here and there an open space.

Sometimes the open spaces are filled with grass, other times with heather, fens and peat with here and there a tree.

Grass, peat and a fen in the low wintersun make a pretty image

For a considerable part the path crosses the estate Den Treek – Henschoten, a wide area, which is private property but luckily open to the public. More towards the end of the hike you can see the buildings of the estate which are rather pretty.

Part of the estate Den Treek – Henschoten

There we came across a couple of beatiful and friendly horses that walked towards us.

Part of the estate Den Treek-Henschoten
Rob being greeted by the horses

Overall we truly enjoyed the hike since it was a nice variation of fine forest and a diversity of open spaces.

General/details:

Overview of the route. For the gpx file see further below.

Start and Finish: Parking lot Leusden Zuid

Type: circular route

Length: 14,5 km

Difficulty: easy

Terrain: almost completely forest path, flat

How to get there? By car: you can easily park your car for free at the parking lot. Public transport: You can also get there by bus (nr 280, exit Leusden Bavoort) but then you will need to hike 500-1000 meter to the start of the route.

Restaurants underway? No, you will need to bring your own drinks and snacks.  However, there is a restaurant close to the start/finish, 500-1000 meters away (restaurant Bavoort).

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