Skip to content
forestyas
EN

Belgium Belgium forest

Polygon Wood, Zonnebeke

Wittnn · CC BY 4.0

20% trees around it and 936 species recorded.

38Forestyas Score

ForestBirds

  • trees within 3 km20%
  • wild within 10 km37%
  • species recorded936
  • Altitude66 m

The forest around

20% trees.

Read like the rings of a cut trunk: from the centre out, the land within 1, 3, 6 and 10 km, coloured by what covers it.

Trees 42%Grassland 34%Cropland 22%Built-up 2%Trees 18%Grassland 33%Water 0%Cropland 38%Built-up 11%Trees 10%Grassland 28%Water 0%Cropland 55%Built-up 6%Trees 10%Grassland 24%Water 0%Cropland 52%Built-up 14%20%trees · 3 km

Trees, ring by ring

  • 0–1 km42%
  • 1–3 km18%
  • 3–6 km10%
  • 6–10 km10%

What covers the land (1–3 km)

  • Trees18%
  • Grassland33%
  • Water0%
  • Cropland38%
  • Built-up11%

ESA WorldCover 2021 (10 m, from Sentinel satellites), sampled every 120 m. A clearing, a road or a lake counts as what it is.

Who lives here

936 species recorded.

The plants, fungi, birds and mammals people have recorded here most often.

Bracken
BrackenPteridium aquilinum325 recordsStefan.lefnaer · CC BY-SA 4.0
Pedunculate Oak
Pedunculate OakQuercus robur297 recordsAlgirdas at Lithuanian Wikipedia · Public domain
Garden yellow loosestrife
Garden yellow loosestrifeLysimachia vulgaris227 recordsLe.Loup.Gris · CC BY-SA 3.0
Woodland germander
Woodland germanderTeucrium scorodonia214 recordsFrank Vincentz · CC BY-SA 3.0
Elder
ElderSambucus nigra191 recordsW. Bulach · CC BY-SA 4.0
European honeysuckle
European honeysuckleLonicera periclymenum191 recordsLuc Viatour · CC BY-SA 3.0
Heather
HeatherCalluna vulgaris186 recordsUnknown author · Public domain
Erect cinquefoil
Erect cinquefoilPotentilla erecta186 recordsUser:Tigerente · CC BY 2.5
Soft Rush
Soft RushJuncus effusus181 recordsThe original uploader was Meggar at English Wikipedia . · CC BY-SA 3.0
Rowan
RowanSorbus aucuparia181 recordsGiallopolenta · Public domain
Creeping buttercup
Creeping buttercupRanunculus repens180 recordsUnknown author · CC BY-SA 3.0
Common Broom
Common BroomCytisus scoparius180 recordsUnknown author · Public domain

Open records within 5 km (GBIF, licensed for any use). Busy places are better recorded than remote ones.

In numbers

The forest, measured.

38out of 100

Our own rating, from open data only: tree cover (40 points), wildness (20), species recorded (30) and protection or heritage (10).

  • 20%Treesof the land within 3 km
  • 37%Wildno towns or farmland within 10 km
  • 936Speciesrecorded more than once within 5 km
  • 66 mAltitudeabove the sea

When to walk

Best for walking in June and in September.

How good each month is for a walk: mild days and little rain make the bar taller.

  1. Jan6°1°67 mm
  2. Feb7°1°59 mm
  3. Mar10°2°54 mm
  4. Apr14°5°39 mm
  5. May17°8°58 mm
  6. Jun20°11°62 mm
  7. Jul22°13°74 mm
  8. Aug22°13°80 mm
  9. Sep19°11°58 mm
  10. Oct15°8°71 mm
  11. Nov10°5°77 mm
  12. Dec7°2°79 mm
  • Bar: walking comfort; the number on top is the average maximum.
  • Below: average minimum (NASA, 1991–2020).
  • Rain: monthly total.

The place

Polygon Wood, Zonnebeke.

Forest in Belgium, site of the Battle of Passchendaele in World War I

Polygon Wood, Zonnebeke is a forest in Belgium.

Seen from space, 20% of the land within 3 km is trees, and 37% of the land within 10 km has no towns or farmland.

936 species have been recorded around it: 750 plants, 19 fungi, 154 birds and 13 mammals.

The most recorded plants are: Bracken, Pedunculate Oak and Garden yellow loosestrife.

The best time to walk is in June and in September.

25042025 Pou Maumahara Zonnebeke
Wittnn · CC BY 4.0

Get there and walk

Plan the visit

A guided walk, a bed nearby, a car.

Guided forest walks and tours near Polygon Wood, ZonnebekeGetYourGuideSee prices Cabins and stays near Polygon Wood, ZonnebekeBooking.comSee prices Car hire at LIL airport (Lesquin)Discover CarsSee prices 

Some links above are affiliate links: if you book through them we may earn a commission, at no extra cost to you. It never changes what the data on this page says.

From above

The forest and its surroundings.

The satellite image of the 6 × 6 km around the place, with the trails, notable trees, picnic sites and huts that OpenStreetMap shows.

Polygon Wood, Zonnebeke seen from above (Sentinel-2)
Seen from above: Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 (EOX, CC BY 4.0), 6 × 6 km, north up. Points © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Around, in OpenStreetMap

  • 358marked trails within 5 kmBoerenkrijgwandelroute and 357 more
  • 16named and notable trees within 6 kmHerdenkingsboom, Herdenkingsboom 76, Herdenkingsboom 48 and 13 more
  • 45picnic sites within 4 km
  • 47shelters and huts within 6 kmGeluwe Kapellestraat and 46 more
  • 12viewpoints within 5 kmTijgers, Leeuwen and 10 more
  • 4visitor centres within 6 kmAdventure Club, Info Leeuw, Tyne Cot Bezoekerscentrum and 1 more
  • 73car parks within 3 km
  • 8campsites within 10 kmVeldhoekhoeve, Camperpunt Hooge Crater, 't hof Bellewaerde and 5 more
  • 77places to stay within 10 kmThe Protea, Vijverhuis, B&B speghelhof and 74 more
  • 16restaurants and cafés within 3 km

Counted in OpenStreetMap, the map anyone can edit. A low number may just mean nobody has mapped it yet.

In our other atlases

Around Polygon Wood, Zonnebeke.

The mountains, lakes, rivers, waterfalls and canyons around this forest, the viewpoints above it, the birds and the night sky, in the family's atlases.

Peakyas11 mountains within 25 km
Lettenberg98 m · 14 kmKemmelberg154 m · 15 kmMonteberg136 m · 16 kmRodeberg137 m · 18 kmBaneberg142 m · 18 kmVidaigneberg136 m · 18 kmMont Noir152 m · 20 kmMont des Cats164 m · 24 km
Lakeyas2 lakes within 15 km
Zillebekevijver0.2 km² · 5.8 kmDikkebusvijver0.3 km² · 11 km
Darkskyas1 dark-sky places within 30 km
Lille observatory of astronomyBortle 9 · 27 km
Viewyas1 viewpoints within 15 km
Belvedère14 km
Birdyas1 birding sites within 25 km
Parc des Prés du Hem175 species · 19 km

Figures from the sister sites' databases (Wikidata, HydroATLAS, GeoNames, OpenStreetMap). Links open when each site is online.

Other forests nearby.

Polygon Wood, Zonnebeke

Belgium

  • 38Forestyas Score
  • 20%Trees
  • 37%Wild
  • 936Species

Forêt de Mormal

France · 90 km

  • 80Forestyas Score
  • 91%Trees
  • 76%Wild
  • 1,164Species

See the guide

Tillegembos

Belgium · 39 km

  • 59Forestyas Score
  • 55%Trees
  • 60%Wild
  • 1,303Species

See the guide

Forêt de Nieppe

France · 35 km

  • 56Forestyas Score
  • 58%Trees
  • 33%Wild
  • 983Species

See the guide

Where these figures come from

Name and typeWikidata (Q2896459) · CC0
Land coverESA WorldCover 10 m 2021 v200 · © ESA WorldCover project / Copernicus Sentinel data · CC BY 4.0
Species47,692 open records within 5 km (GBIF, CC0 and CC BY 4.0 only)
See these recordsgbif.org
Names and photosWikidata (CC0); GBIF Backbone Taxonomy · CC BY 4.0; Wikimedia Commons
AltitudeCopernicus DEM GLO-30 · © DLR e.V., © Airbus Defence and Space GmbH, Copernicus/ESA
Temperature and rainNASA POWER (CERES SYN1deg, 2001–2020; MERRA-2)
What is around© OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL
ImagesEOX Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 · CC BY 4.0; Wikimedia Commons
Sister atlasesPeakyas, Lakeyas, Darkskyas, Viewyas, Birdyas

Every figure is an average, an estimate or a count from a public dataset. Licences and methods: data sources.

The family

Do you prefer beaches, lakes, mountains, waterfalls, islands, rivers, canyons, caves, dark skies, viewpoints, birdwatching or forests?

Same idea, other landscapes: field atlases built on open data, in seven languages.

beachesCoastyaFind your beach: sea temperature, sun and swimming month by month.Visit lakesLakeyasEvery lake on Earth: water temperature, ice, depth and the shore.Visit mountainsPeakyasEvery summit in 3D: summit weather, the 0 °C line, huts and trails.Visit waterfallsCascadyasEvery waterfall: height, flow month by month and when it roars.Visit islandsIslandyasEvery island from the sea up: size, sea temperature, ferries and 3D.Visit
riversRiveryasEvery river from source to sea: the journey, the flow and the basin in numbers.Coming soonVisit
canyonsCanyonyasEvery canyon cut to scale: depth to the floor, rim and floor temperatures, trails and viewpoints.Visit cavesCavernyasEvery cave with its real depth and length: the rock above, the temperature inside all year, and how to visit.Visit dark skiesDarkskyasWhere the night is still dark: the sky of every place, the Milky Way month by month, the Moon, eclipses and auroras.Visit viewpointsViewyasEvery viewpoint with its real 360° panorama: the peaks you can name, how far you see and where the sun sets.Visit birdwatchingBirdyasEvery bird sanctuary and wetland with the species recorded month by month: who is resident, who comes for the summer, who only passes through.Visit
forestsForestyasEvery forest with its land-cover rings, what grows and lives in it, and the best months to walk it.You are here