'The Dutch Sahara' Loonse en Drunense Duinen (The Netherlands)

National Park De Loonse and Drunense Duinen is a nature reserve in the Dutch province of Noord-Brabant. It is more than 3500 hectares and has been a national park since 2002. The park is largely an alternation of dry sand drifts and pine forest and covers more than 35 km². About 30 km² of this is drift sand. The area is also called the "Brabant Sahara". The area is surrounded by larger and smaller towns and villages. In the north we find from west to east Waalwijk, Drunen, Nieuwkuijk, Vlijmen and 's-Hertogenbosch. Villages on the south side are Loon op Zand, Biezenmortel, Helvoirt and Udenhout; Tilburg is about six kilometers away.