The Smeetshof is both the name of the farm (see photos of the white-painted building) where the walks depart and the nature reserve through which the walks run. The farm was renovated in 1913 and called Smeetshof by the then owners, contractor Smeets-Clerx from Eksel.
The nature development area is managed by Natuurpunt to give wet nature every opportunity. The area surrounding the Smeetshof was once an enormous impenetrable swamp that became fragmented over time, became forested and later drained for agriculture. You will now mainly find moist grasslands with many marsh plants and marsh birds. Walks mainly take place on defined paths to allow recovery. There is also a lot of work going on to re-route streams and the like, which means that part of previous walks are currently closed and you can find parts here and there with water and canals that are not on a map. This is certainly the case on the former yellow route. When you do end up there, you already notice what the area will look like.
Smeetshof nature reserve is part of the Kempen~Broek border park area. You can therefore combine walks with other areas, also from the former farm, and these often run in both Belgium (Limburg) and the Netherlands (Limburg and Brabant). More on the information boards between the photos.