Goudberg
A small but geologically and botanically very interesting nature reserve, the Goudberg is part of the Strijbeekse Heide. It consists of a horseshoe-shaped drift sand ridge, a parabolic dune, with a ring-shaped fen with a bog island in the middle. The dune rises 4 to 6 m above the surrounding fields. In 1954, the Forestry Commission bought the Goudberg. This narrowly prevented this special nature reserve from being "reclaimed". Everything would be excavated, the marsh filled in and the whole area would be "neatly levelled" into farmland. Some naturalists then successfully sounded the alarm.

Floating island
The fen has an extremely rare ring shape: an elongated bowl with a floating island in the middle. This island is unique in Brabant. It is a quaking bog, a thick layer of peat that floats on a muddy water layer and rises and falls with the water level. So it always sticks out the same amount above the water, regardless of the water level. Drilling has shown, that peat has been formed here for at least 5,000 years.

Flora and fauna
A rare vegetation of high botanical value grows on the raised bog island, including cranberry, lavender heather, one-eared woolly grass and various species of mosses and bog lichens. Because of its fragility, visitors are therefore not allowed to enter this island, but those who walk around it will also see many beautiful things. There are always water birds to be seen on the fen, such as tufted ducks and little grebes.

Poetic
The Goudbergven is called "the most beautiful fen in Brabant" by some. So we walk through a nature reserve that is lyrical. We make this walk even more poetic by occasionally letting a poet speak about natural phenomena we encounter.

Registration
Registration for this walk is compulsory and can be done here. Registration is possible until the day of the walk.