Swartbroek - De Pelen - yellow - 11,8 km

The Leukerbeek forms the blue thread of your hike, sometimes you hike right beside it, then again a bit further away through the rural landscape with rows of trees, fields, and small woodlands. The area consists of several depressions where peelvennen or pelen are located between higher sand ridges on which, among other things, the village of Swartbroek developed. Peelvennen or pelen, a term used only in the Weert area, are dish-shaped depressions that formed in warmer periods during the Holocene in the cover sand landscape due to runoff of meltwater. The pelen, including the Roukespeel, Moeselpeel, the Kootspeel, the Roeventerpeel, the Sarven, and the Banen, lie southeast of Weert and Nederweert. Swartbroek is a church village that is part of the municipality of Weert. De Krang, a large nature reserve surrounding the village, serves as a breeding ground and resting place for many birds. The area is crossed in the north by the Leukerbeek and in the south by the Tungelroysebeek.