Hiking around Veerse Lake, Zeeland

The province of Zeeland in the Netherlands has many places which are perfect for hiking and biking. The nature reserve Veerse Lake is one of them. There are plenty of hiking trails in this area and in this article I would like to tell you some more.

About Veerse Lake

Veerse Lake is a large lake an nature reserve located in the center of the Dutch province Zeeland. It’s the place to be when it comes to watersports. People go to Veerse Lake for surfing, canoeing, sailing, water skiing, diving and fishing. You can also rent a boat to go sailing on the lake with good weather.

By the lake, you can find nice towns, like Veere, Kortgene and Kamperland. These towns are worth a visit. Besides watersports, the Veerse Lake is the perfect place for biking and hiking.

Hiking routes at Veerse Lake

There are many hiking routes offered around Veerse Lake. There’s, for example, the outdoor app Komoot on which you can several options. During my time around the lake, I used the hiking trails mentioned on the website on Staatsbosbeheer (website only in Dutch). They offer a few hiking trails which go through multiple areas around the Veerse Lake. In the area, you can also find signs with maps where the hiking trails of Staatsbosbeheer start (see the photos below for examples). Of course it’s also possible to create your own hiking route through Maps.me or Komoot.

From the hiking trails offered, I hiked two trails in total: the green and blue one. The green hiking trail is going through the Schotsman nature reserve and the blue hiking trail is going through the Veerse Forest. Below you can find some more information about both trails.

Green hiking route through Schotsman

The green hiking route is going the Schotsman nature reserve and has a length of 5,8 kilometers. Its starting point is ‘parking place De Schotsman’, which is located at the road ‘Schotsmanweg’. You can find the parking place next to the nature reserve and close to De Banjaard.

The route walks through forests, open fields and along Veerse Lake. You’ll start the route through a forest, from where you walk into an open field. You walk along the lake, which leads you back to an open field and back into the forest. At the end of the hike, you’ll walk through grasslands back to the parking place.

Take into account that the paths can be muddy, so wear good shoes. For this route, you can follow the green poles, which lead you through the route. However, sometimes you just come across a green pole, but several ways to go (right, left, straight ahead). The green pole doesn’t show an arrow to which way you need to go, so that makes it a little difficult. It’s best to download the route beforehand on the website and to check sometimes on Maps.me if you’re walking in the right direction.

Blue hiking route around Veerse Forest

Unfortunately I’m not really sure how long this hiking trail is, as I seem not get to find the information (I think the length is around the same as the green route). You can shorten the trail if you’d like to, as the trail combines smaller rounds together. You can park your car at the ‘Landschuurweg’ and start the route from there into the Veerse Forest.

This hiking trail goes through forest and along / over the Gapingse Watergang. You can easily hike the trail by following the blue dots everywhere on the route (see the photo above in the left corner as an example). Along the way, you come across a beautiful bridge which give some nice views over the water. It’s really a nice environment.

I loved the area around Veerse Lake as a hiking area. I enjoyed my time here and can recommend a visit to everyone who’s around and loves hiking, biking or watersports.

I’d love to hear your recommendations when it comes to hiking areas. What’s your favorite place? Let me know in the comment section below!

Author: Tamara