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Natural Monuments

Beaver tracks near the Volmolen in the Geul Valley

Natural Monuments

Beaver tracks near the Volmolen in the Geul Valley

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Beaver tracks near the Volmolen in the Geul Valley

Recommended by 129 hikers out of 137

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Location: Gulpen-Wittem, Limburg, Netherlands

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Best Hiking Routes to Beaver tracks near the Volmolen in the Geul Valley

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1. View of the Limburg Hills – Meadows Along the Geul loop from Epen

11.9km

03:18

210m

Intermediate hike. Good fitness required. Easily-accessible paths. Suitable for all skill levels.

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4.7

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2. Geul River – Volmolen Epen loop from Mechelen

7.65km

02:00

60m

Intermediate hike. Good fitness required. Easily-accessible paths. Suitable for all skill levels.

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4.8

(162)

605

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3. Epen Fulling Mill – Geuldal Valley loop from Epen

11.8km

03:23

280m

Intermediate hike. Good fitness required. Easily-accessible paths. Suitable for all skill levels.

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Intermediate

Tips

Niek 🇳🇱

October 26, 2024

Beaver feeding marks are clear signs of their presence and activity in this area. Beavers are herbivores and their diet consists mainly of bark, branches, leaves and aquatic plants. When they gnaw trees or branches, they leave characteristic feeding marks.

Translated by Google •

Rob Josten 🦅

August 16, 2024

Craftsmanship with water
The most famous building in the Geul valley is probably the Volmolen near Epen. The mill was part of the Vaals cloth industry. Due to the location of the mill on the Geul, there was a lot of water available for fulling, the felting of wool. There was no such large amount of water in the area around Vaals.
Fulling improves the quality of woven wool cloth. The cloth is placed in large oak vats, which are filled with a mixture of fulling earth (a type of clay), linseed oil, rancid butter, urine and water. Stampers, driven by the water power of the Geul, press the cloth flat. Fourteen hours later, the wool cloths have become felty, rougher and stronger.

The smell of the Geul
The urine and rancid butter required for fulling were discharged into the Geul after use. It is therefore not surprising that the Volmolen was built outside the village centre of Epen!

Grain mill
Around 1870, the Volmolen was converted into a grain mill. The Volmolen functioned as a "flour factory" for decades. This large-scale approach to grain milling, including the distribution of the flour to local bakers, has been phased out. Nowadays, the volunteer millers demonstrate the craft on a small scale by milling grain from natural fields during regular opening hours.

The complex is located between the Geul and a dug mill branch. In the mill branch, water is dammed up to increase the drop of the water at the water wheel. The buildings, a mill house and a farm with attached barns, are located around a courtyard.

The facades of the mill house are striking, which are built from various types of locally occurring rubble stone. The brickwork and joint mortar are made of a sandy lime mortar with a typical yellow-brown colour, which is typical of the region due to the use of locally extracted sand. The bakehouse also has facades of rubble stone. This bakehouse is located on the other side of the mill branch due to the risk of fire. The baking oven is still present inside.

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An 🇧🇪

November 20, 2024

The beaver is the largest rodent in Europe and one of the largest rodents in the world. The beaver has a broad, scaled, horizontally flattened tail. Its legs are quite short. Its hind legs have webbed feet. Its head is blunt and its ears and eyes are small. Its nose and ears can be closed when swimming. There is also a piece of tissue in its cheek that closes off the mouth when the animal is gnawing underwater. It has a pair of strong orange teeth that are always growing. They are orange because there is an iron-containing substance in the enamel on the teeth that is orange in colour, which makes them strong enough to gnaw through trees.

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Distance 263 m

Downhill 0 m

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Tuesday 11 November

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Location: Gulpen-Wittem, Limburg, Netherlands

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Beaver tracks near the Volmolen in the Geul Valley

1. View of the Limburg Hills – Meadows Along the Geul loop from Epen

2. Geul River – Volmolen Epen loop from Mechelen

3. Epen Fulling Mill – Geuldal Valley loop from Epen

Other Popular Places to Check Out

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