The green lungs of Genk

On the road through the green of National Park De Hoge Kempen. Although: in the summer it is quite purple here! On the way you will also discover the Royal Domain, a special sub-area in the park.

Royal Domain
The starting point of the route, Opgrimbie, is already at an altitude of 42 metres. To the west, the escarpment rises to over 90 metres, on the Kempens Plateau. Here you will find the Royal Domain with the country residence of King Baudouin I: Villa Fridhem. It is located as an enclave in the Hoge Kempen National Park. A little further on you will pass the beautiful Molenvijverpark with the M Hotel, a nice place to stay overnight!

National Park
You continue cycling through the National Park, a beautiful natural setting of 5700 ha of forest and heathland where many rare and special animals can be found. You can spot the queen's page and there is a large population of deer. On the heathland you can see the curlew, woodlark and nightjar. This heathland, consisting of heather, bell heather and red bell heather, turns a beautiful purple in August and September. Hundreds of hectares are in bloom at the same time!