Strabrechste Heide, Heeze

Just outside Eindhoven is a lovely large hiking area that is predominantly a leash walk area, but also has a 4km long leash-free zone. Combine the two and you can have a full day of hiking with your hound in this beautiful heathland area.

But since this website is all about leash-free areas we will focus on that. The path you want to take is the Heideroute, marked in yellow on the pathway signs. It is a long narrow circular route that runs almost parallel to the motorway.

After a short, leashed walk from the car park, the little orange sign for “honden loslopgebied” opens up the heathlands to your pup. We visited in March when the weather was sunny and warm but not too hot. Even so, the range of watering holes along the way were very much appreciated by our furry friend.

There is a large lake that you encounter on your way which, depending on the direction you take on the circular route, is the first large water area you come across, however this is fenced off to everyone. But no worries, there are many more smaller lakes, puddles, canals and watery swampy areas for your pup to cool off in if necessary.

The walk does take you through some woodland areas that would offer you shade when the trees have leaves but in March there was very little of that. The heathlands are of course open plains full of lovely long grasses and shrubs that my pup really enjoyed jumping through.

There are a few pathways that are shared with horses and mountain bikes, although I saw neither. There is however a rather busy cycle path near the large, fenced-off lake that you share or walk close to for just a short period, after which you are back to walking in soft pathways again for the rest of the way.

At some point there was a very marshy area with stepping stones to walk and keep your feet dry at the same time. I can only assume after a lot of rainfall, this would be difficult to get through. Also some paths in this area were pretty squelchy so I would recommend waterproof boots even though most of the pathways are pretty sandy and dry.

Parking is free of charge at the Strabrechste Heide Mierlo parking spot, just off the corner where Mierlose Dijk meets Heezerweg.