Beerschoten estate, Houdringe and Panbos
Location
De Holle Bilt 6
3732 HM de Bilt Plan your route to the Beerschoten, Houdringe and Panbos Estates
Ponds, streams and shifting sands
Close to the city of Utrecht lies estate Beerschoten. With meandering ponds, flowing streams, meadows with groups of trees and old lanes, it is an attractive walking area. The neighbouring Houdringe consists of woods and open grassland. There are oaks and beeches whose trunks are more than a metre in diameter. At the edge of the drifting sand plains in the Panbos, the trees 'walk'. The wind has pushed away the sand between the roots.
Beerschoten and Houdringe and the Panbos form a large nature reserve of 378 hectares. The varied park landscape of Beerschoten and Houdringe is home to many bird species. The age-old trees provide a suitable habitat for various species of woodpecker, tawny owl, squirrel, pine marten and bats such as dwarf bat and great-eared bat. For the latter species, an accommodation has been set up in the old ice cellar at Beerschoten. Rabbits feel at home on the dry, sandy terrain.
Dusty sand
H...
Ponds, streams and shifting sands
Close to the city of Utrecht lies estate Beerschoten. With meandering ponds, flowing streams, meadows with groups of trees and old lanes, it is an attractive walking area. The neighbouring Houdringe consists of woods and open grassland. There are oaks and beeches whose trunks are more than a metre in diameter. At the edge of the drifting sand plains in the Panbos, the trees 'walk'. The wind has pushed away the sand between the roots.
Beerschoten and Houdringe and the Panbos form a large nature reserve of 378 hectares. The varied park landscape of Beerschoten and Houdringe is home to many bird species. The age-old trees provide a suitable habitat for various species of woodpecker, tawny owl, squirrel, pine marten and bats such as dwarf bat and great-eared bat. For the latter species, an accommodation has been set up in the old ice cellar at Beerschoten. Rabbits feel at home on the dry, sandy terrain.
Dusty sand
The Panbos forest, immediately adjacent to Beerschoten, is a former sand drift landscape. Some small sandy plains remain, but most of the area is covered with coniferous forest. Characteristic of the Panbos are the old Scots pines at the edge of the sand flats. The wind has blown away the sand between the roots and exposed the root system. One of these pines is home to a group of long-eared owls in winter. Several dozen juniper trees grow in the Panbos, which are known as specific pioneer plants in drifting sand areas. Sand lizard and many insects benefit from the dry, and in summer warm, sandy areas.