Discover Herpen

Explore Herpen through three specific themes: the landscape of Herperduin, the village’s history and architecture, and cycling routes with named starting points. If you’re looking for a hotel in Herpen, you can first consider which of these themes you want to shape your trip. These highlights give you a basis for planning your trip and choosing a hotel according to your interests.

Herperduin’s natural landscape and its waters

Herperduin is part of the Maashorst nature area and covers around 400 hectares. The area was originally characterised by heathland and drifting sand. From the late 19th century onwards, Scots pines were planted there to stabilise the drifting sand and provide timber for mine shafts. Ganzenven, also known as Groot Ganzenven, lies in the centre of the area. It dries out completely during dry periods and fills up again in wetter periods. Both the landscape’s history and the change between dry and wet periods therefore shape the character of this natural area.

Another body of water is Hamelspoel, also called Putwiel. It originally formed as an old bed of the River Maas and is now an elongated body of water northeast of the village of Herpen. It is also part of the Hertogswetering. This description brings together three aspects: its origin as a riverbed, its present elongated shape and its connection to the Hertogswetering.

Chapel, church and local history

The chapel in Koolwijk belongs to the parish of Herpen and was the destination of an annual pilgrimage. Church accounts from 1524 already mention it as “capella S. Anne in Coelwyck”. The annual Annafeest is also held at the chapel, on 26 July or the first Sunday thereafter. If you would like to plan your trip around the festival, check the date for the year in question.

The St. Sebastianuskerk in Herpen is also an important landmark in the village’s history. It is a Rijksmonument and is considered one of the best-preserved Gothic churches in Brabant. Herpen was the main town of the former Land van Herpen and already had a castle in the 12th century. Another aspect of its history can be seen at the Erfdijk: it was originally an inland dike of the Beerse Overlaat and protected Herpen from flooding. The church, castle and dike thus represent different facets of the area’s religious, political and water-management history.

Exploring and cycling routes

At Speelbos Herperduin / Docus de Das, you can climb and scramble around in the middle of the forest. The badger climbing structure is six metres high, 33 metres long and 23 metres wide. The Herperduin observation tower offers a different scale: it is almost 25 metres high and has seven flights of stairs. The tower features information panels on the cultural history of the area visible from it. These dimensions describe two very different structures; the panels add historical context to the view from the tower.

There are several named options for cycling trips. The Fietstocht Vorstenroute is around 40 kilometres long and runs mostly along the cycle-node network. It starts near Schaijkseweg 3, 5373 KL Herpen, where parking is available. The Fietsroute “de Maas als vriend en vijand” Oost from Herpen starts at the same address and follows the cycle-node network almost entirely; parking is available there too. The Vorstenroute is therefore described by its approximate length and predominant use of the network, while the Oost route is described as following it almost entirely. Another named route, the Fietsroute Kijkuit over Herperduin en de Hemelrijkse Waard, starts at Natuurpoort De Kriekeput in the Herperduin nature area. Check local conditions before setting off.

Discover more destinations: Oss, Berghem, Macharen, Ravenstein, Maren-Kessel.

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