Rode Beek Tour

Hike through the wooded part of the Meinweg National Park, along the Rode Beek that forms the border with Germany and the river Roer. The Rode Beek is a beautiful meandering brook that originates just across the border in Germany. It forms the national border between the hamlet of Vlodrop Station and the village of Vlodrop about 5 km away. There are two water mills along this stream: the Dalheimer Mühle on the German side and the Gitstappermolen on the Dutch side.

Route description

• The Rode Beek flows into the Roer near Roermond, a tributary of the Meuse.
• Besides following the Rode Beek, this walk also runs along a meandering stretch of the Roer and through Meinweg National Park.
• This is a unique terraced landscape with steep transitions between the terraces, formed by erosion and shifts in the earth's crust along three fault lines.
• Along the Peelrandbreuk (Peel Boundary Fault), a severe earthquake measuring 5.8 on the Richter scale occurred in 1992.
• In the wooded part of De Meinweg, the walk follows a disused stretch of the Iron Rhine railway.
• Initially, the plan was to dig a canal as a direct connection to Antwerp; later, a railway line was preferred instead, hence the name Iron Rhine.
• Other points of interest include the chapel and cemetery of the former Franciscan monastery Sint Ludwig, the manor farm Beatrixhof, and a monument for war victims of the Second World War.
• Daelenbroeck Castle, now a hotel-restaurant, was first mentioned in the early fourteenth century and was used by Godfried van Heinsberg as a residence and hunting lodge.
• The current complex dates from 1707.