The idyllic Dender

The Dender is one of our most idyllic rivers. It crosses nature reserves, but also flows through the centres of important historical cities such as Geraardsbergen, Ninove and Aalst. Only at the mouth at Dendermonde the river was kept out of the city. Since 1978 the tidal lock of Dendermonde separates the Dender from the tidal sensitive Zeeschelde, so there are no more tides on the Dender.

The Dender is meandering its way through the landscape. While sailing you will discover low-lying lakes, with alternating natural marshlands and poplar plantations. Originally, the Dender was a strongly winding river with varying water levels. Usually it is calm, but after heavy rainfall the water can rise rapidly and flow very fast. Hence the name 'Tanera', the sparkling one, that the Celts gave to the Dender.

This fickleness has always been attempted to control. However, sailing under very strong currents remains forbidden and in order to make the Dender navigable in summer, 12 locks and weirs were built to keep the water level sufficiently high. These old, still manually operated locks contribute to the charm of the Dender. As a plus, the old, heritage-rich towns built cycle paths and beautiful public spaces along the water's edge. But above all, the Dender region has a lot of natural beauty and the attraction of this meandering river amidst lots of greenery is very great. Sailing on the Dender is therefore a particularly pleasant leisure activity.