Cycling route Maashorst and Verborgen Raam Valley
Cycle through a robust natural landscape of expansive forests, blooming heathlands, tranquil fens, and open plains, where you can truly experience the authentic Brabant countryside.
The Landscape
De Maashorst, spanning over 3,500 hectares, is the largest contiguous nature reserve in North Brabant and feels like a landscape still free to breathe. Ridges and depressions shape the terrain, guiding you through a varied mosaic of dry sandy soils, open heathland, forest edges, and hidden fens. In the wilderness area, nature is given extra space, and you may encounter large grazers such as wisents, tauros cattle, and Exmoor ponies, giving the route an almost wild character.
The Verborgen Raam Valley offers a gentle counterbalance with a mosaic of waterways, ponds, and flower-rich meadows, interwoven with estates and historic elements set within lush greenery. The Raam winds through the landscape like a calm blue ribbon, connecting nature and heritage in ways that reveal themselves time and again along the route. Together, these two areas create a surprisingly varied experience, combining long stretches of tranquility with ever-changing views.
What You’ll Discover Along the Way
In the Maashorst, you cycle through quiet coniferous forests and light deciduous woodland edges, while open heathlands repeatedly open up the horizon. Among heather, sandy trails, and juniper scrub, a rugged setting emerges that allows you to fully disconnect from the bustle of everyday life.
Along the route, old farmsteads, tree-lined lanes, and historic hamlets appear, giving the landscape its distinctive Brabant character. Small chapels, hedgerows, and traces of traditional land use add moments of cultural heritage along the way, while nature remains firmly in the spotlight.
Along the edges of the Maashorst, farmland unfolds with fields, meadows, and neatly defined plots that give the countryside its calm rhythm. The contrast between wide-open views and sheltered lanes makes this cycling route especially enjoyable and relaxed, with a continual return to greenery.
In the Verborgen Raam Valley, you follow the gentle rhythm of the Raam and its tributaries, passing reed beds, damp meadows, and small wetland areas. Wooden bridges and winding stream bends add a natural sense of flow to the route, giving this waterscape an unexpectedly intimate and atmospheric feel.
Join our virtual bike tour and experience the journey
Virtually cycling through the Maashorst and the Verborgen Raamvallei takes you past expansive forests, open heathlands, and tranquil fens that define the largest nature reserve in North Brabant. As sandy trails and woodland edges alternate, you can sit back and enjoy a landscape that feels both rugged and inviting.
In the Verborgen Raam Valley, the route follows the gentle, meandering rhythm of the Raam, with flower-rich meadows, ponds, and lush banks as natural highlights. From the comfort of home, you experience a varied cycling journey where water, nature, and the Brabant countryside blend seamlessly together.
Want to learn more about virtual cycling? THIS IS HOW VIRTUAL CYCLING WORKS
Route map and cycling junctions
Start and finish at bike node 17 on the Schaijkseweg in Herpen. Because this is a circular route, you can also start at one of the other cycling junctions along the route.
Distance: 55 km
Estimated riding time: 3 hours 43 minutes
Elevation gain: 73 m
Paved roads: 86%
Unpaved / semi-paved: 14%
Ideal for: e-bikes and city bikes
Along the way: several options for a coffee break or lunch.
