Grenspark Kalmthoutse Heide is rich in fens thanks to the peat industry, wars (bomb craters) and – surprisingly – nature itself. The fens only water resource is rain water due to its higher location than surrounding areas. Hence quite unique and “specialists” fauna and flora can be found. No need to explain the attraction it has on many and diverse visitors.
Starting point is Stappersven (1) (swap a to e and v to f) which has been subject to major water level changes over the last few years. Especially the drought periods have prolonged. The park is a drinking water resource (on both sides of the current country borders) and ground water level are still very low.
The seat is my benchmark (pun intended). When on the bench your feet would dangle over the water about 3 years ago. January 2024 ice-skating was allowed for a couple of days and the natural dyke was flattened. The Small Stepper (‘Kleine Stapper’, in Dutch ‘klein’ is synonymous for ‘smal’ or ‘kort’, the English short) viewing platform has not had wet feet for many years.
I could walk about eight steps before reaching water instead of ten at the end of summer. Just to indicate how low water levels still are currently. This fen is the largest of the park.
The second fen, Van Ganzenven (gans = goose; however ‘Van Ganzen’ might as well be a surname) was actually new to me. And most probably only a fen in very wet periods. Research learned people were also skating here in 2024. Two paths cross the fen nowadays.
The yellow marker indicates the above photo.
Three and four are both Putse Moer (moor/marsh of Putte), I split them up since three had been empty.
Photos and markers are chronological. I did not take any photos of the largest part of the fen which was too far to notice change in water levels.
Surprisingly this fen is not named. It may however be part of nearby Kriekelaarsven (bird-cherry fen). The unnamed one has certainly outdone the named neighbor.
Sixth on the list, Langeven (Long Fen) has been a headache for the park. Paths were actually closed due to flooding. Ironically, as the water level in the pic below, the fen is empty but the path had been raised almost three feet (1m). Also, recent works have destroyed it once more.
Last one is Triplet Fens (Drielingvennen) and self-explanatory. Locally it may be referred to as Little Moor (Klein Moerken). One can only assume it has become more than triplet due to drought.
As one photo indicates the fen is cut off by a connecting road. It is however only accessible for emergency/authorized vehicles and non-motorized vehicles.
And to finish the circle, once more some photos from Stappersven from another perspective.
In between the fens, these are the views to be expected:
The hike was about 8mi (13,6km) and done on 12/12/2025 (luckily I do not have to specify the date).
Additional info: https://grensparkkalmthoutseheide.com/en/nature-and-landscape/
Additional hike info (and photos): https://nl.wikiloc.com/routes-wandelen/kalmthoutse-vennenwandeling-243485601
Celtic Belgae 
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