Jungle swamp hike to the gorgeous moist fields & Rhoon castle estates! (15 km)

Important! To sign up, please pay the € 5,50 Meet Up event fee directly (See notifications for tickie). From 9 May the fee will be € 6,95.

This is a topper of and incredible rich nature, it's a stunning and varied -+ 15 km hike to the gorgeous moist fields & Rhoon castle estates in the south of Rotterdam. Here it is peaceful and quite, you wouldn't say to be so close to the bustling city!
A bit different and better version than last year, this time a round walk passing by the moist fields along the river and estates.

Gathering 11:00 @ metro station Rhoon (20 minutes by metro from train station NS Rotterdam CS) in front of the ticket machine. We start the hike here short after meeting and greeting. It is a circular hike and it ends at the same place.

The route goes through the old Maas river, and narrow winding paths and wooden bridges through the unique nature reserve of the Rhoonse Grienden (moist fields). In between, the willow jungle of Klein Profijt, domain of beavers and kingfishers, awaits us. In early spring, the willow paths are lined with wild flowers like the precious yellow tidal plant 'spider dotter' and sometimes the bellflower, which provide us a nice color spectacle, we certainly will also enjoy the birds giving us a free concert.

Castle of Rhoon and its beautiful estates
First, we will pass by the castle of Rhoon with its beautiful English Baroque gardens and the castle forest.

Dikes and polder landscape
After that, the first part goes through grass dikes with polder landscape passing by a mill and typical countryside farms.

Rhoonse grienden
The Rhoonse Grienden form a unique nature reserve in South Holland. These are moist fields on which willow wood is grown and lie outside the dikes. It is an exciting swamp jungle forest where we wil meander through romantic small pollard willows paths with amazing views, it's really worth hiking! In the spring and early summer the flora is exuberant in this tidal area: the romantic willow paths are colored with cow parsley and comfrey and in the banks you often see the yellow tidal flower, the spindotter, and sometimes the summer bellflower.

Klein profijt
Small profit is a great pleasure! This protected and precious nature reserve is rough and less cultivated, we will stroll on quays with wild pollard willows and crawl on paths through a floodplain swamp forest, dense and savage willow jungle, intersected by reed beds and rugged grassland, under the influence of ebb and flow. The area owes its name to the salmon fishery which yielded little here: a small profit.
Further on, the jungle opens up and we look out over the wide waters of the Oude Maas river. A narrow riverbank path accompanies us along the slow-flowing river, with herons scratching on the shore and swans bobbing on the water. The area also has the only duck decoy outside the dikes in our country!

We will pass several restaurants where we can have a break in one of them:
Abel Tasman café restaurant
[https://abel-restaurant.nl/](https://hetwapenvanrhoon.nl/)
- Restaurant het Wapen van Rhoon (with a nice terras) nearby the castle https://hetwapenvanrhoon.nl/

Notifications

• Meet up event fee: Euro 5,50/Eur 6,95 from 9 May to be paid directly when signing up by tickie:
  https://www.ing.nl/payreq/m/?trxid=Nl6kmXnQVlldNpQ7qoMbjiPmDUxeFN7S
• We walk fast at (4 to 5 km an hour average) with 2/3 breaks, you should be fit for it and used to long distance walks of -+ 20 km ;-).
• Be aware that the hike will take the whole day and that the ending time is approximate.
• Bring sufficient water, snacks and lunch, although we might stop at a restaurant.
• I advise to wear comfortable hiking shoes and gear with layers and a rain coat.
• Carpe Diem is an amateur activity group, participating is at your own risk.
• The hike might be cancelled or postponed in case of extreme bad weather or few people signed up. Check messages for last-minute updates the evening before.
• Please only sign up if you are attending to join. And change your RSVP if something unexpected occurs. Last-minutes cancellations are not appreciated and NO SHOWS will be recorded! No refund. Thank you.