The area consists largely of forest plantations of Scots pine, Corsican pine and poplar, with remnants of heathland. Until after the Second World War it was a heathland area. The Ferraris map 1771-1778 shows a quarry, possibly for iron sandstone quarrying, although there is no written evidence of quarrying. On the current sandy plain near the Fazantenweg there was a mill, built around 1607, moved in 1864 and demolished in 1959. The Ferraris map also shows a redoubt with a redoubt pond, now buried under the Veldhoven silt basin and the Albert Canal. The area is characterized by land dunes from the Ice Age and had a turbulent history of excavations, dumps and illegal motocross. The last foothills of SW-NE trending hills of Diestian iron sandstone occur in Veldhovenheide.