GETTING THERE
Eindhoven – 25km (25min)
Amsterdam – 110km (1 hour 10min)
Rotterdam – 110km (1 hour 10min)
Car: There are several parking lots around Kampina nature reserve, main ones being “Startpunt wandelroutes Kampina” and “Parkeerterrein 1, Kampina” in Round. But further smaller ones are available, also depending which loop you would like to complete.
Public transport: There does not appear any public transport going very close to the nature reserve, so best to visit by car or by bike. If you do not mind to walk, the trail start is about 3km walk from Boxtel station.
Camper: I have stayed at Camperplaats Boxtel. 19,5 EUR including electricity and modern clean shower. Great campsite and campsite owner. 3km away from the Kampina nature reserve, easy to cycle to.
TRAIL NAVIGATION
The trail map is available at the parking lots. At the two parking lots mentioned above, there is additionally directional post to point you to the right trail.
You will need to follow arrow coloured in the desired loop. Unlike other trails in Netherlands, the sign is sometimes on the side of the post, not frontal to you. The direction is still very clear, but I did get confused at first if I’m on the right trail until I realised that sometimes the marking is on the side of the post. Also due to this way of marking, the trail is marked only in one direction.
You can also check all the trails in advance and plan your route HERE
RED route/ Banisveldroute – 8km
Nice route going through the Kampina nature reserve. The route first takes you through forrest until a bridge over river Beerze. Shortly after joining road, here you could extend the loop slightly by changing to purple route, but I recommend continuing on the red as you would miss small viewing point. This is just small tower, that offers view over the plain. Continue on, joining back dirt path in forrest area, until Kampina Heide, which is open plain with swamp and a lot of grazers (sheep and cows). Then continue along bike path until Huize Kampina, reaching back to river Beerze, connecting back to the bridge. At the time I have spotted several species of dragonflies in large quantities.
The route can be extended by adding yellow loop of about 4-6km
WHITE route/ Huisvennenroute – 6km
Route takes you around lakes and forrest in the upper part of Kampina. The first half is slightly sandy as you also pass small dunes and get amazing views on the lakes. I recommend to extend the route by 1-2km right from at the start by doing Rolstoelroute, which passes Zandbergsvennen, rocks at nice viewing point and shows you more of the beautiful lakes. After passing the lakes, the route will become peaceful forrest trail all the way to the start. The trail will be additionally beautiful in season when waterlillies bloom as the lakes have many of them.
BLUE route/Smalwaterroute – 8km
Unfortunately I have missed this trail as it was too muddy/flooded. I expect it will be different to the other trails as majority is along a small river.
OTHER TRAIL DETAILS
It is also possible to cycle through and around the reserve, but it is the nicest to visit on foot. I liked that each loop takes you to completely different environment. The nature reserve is very varied and really beautiful.
One thing I want to highlight is that although I visited while it was sunny, it rained a bit few days prior and the reserve was flooded and some parts were impassable without getting your feet wet – ankle deep. Some parts were also very muddy.
Tree coverage: Majority of the trail is under trees, so possible to complete even in sunny weather.
Geocaching: There are no geocaches on the trail, only two in the village. There are some Adventure labs along the trail.
Dogs: It is possible to do this route with your dog on leash. Be aware there are big grazers walking free
FACILITIES
There are no facilities on the trail as well at the start/finish. There are some restaurants in the villages nearby.
I completed this trail in May 2024. There were some people around even during week and in bad weather. Expect crowds on sunny weekends.
