Slenaken, Vaals and Gulpen

A karst landscape, in which flint, loam and sand remained, can be found not only in the Croatian coastal areas, but also much closer to home. Cycle through the impressive landscape in which limestone dissolved in water and where you will find gigantic craters filled with flint eluvium and tertiary sand. These funnel-shaped landscape elements are called organ pipes. These organ pipes and so-called shot-shaped "bowls" with a diameter of several tens of meters ('dolines'), were formed when limestone dissolved in water, a process called karst. In addition, beautiful sandstone boulders cemented together with silica can be found in the beautiful Vijlenerbosch in Limburg. Not only beautiful nature, but also picturesque villages adorn the landscape of Limburg. On top of the peaks of the rolling hills, they lie like picturesque villages in the distance. In touristic Vaals, which can be seen as a suburb of Aachen because it has grown together with this large German city, you hear a mixture of German and Dutch. More than a quarter of the inhabitants of the village have German nationality. At the top of the Vaalserberg lies the Drielandenpunt: where the three borders of the Netherlands, Belgium and Germany meet. The point is marked by a concrete monument. Almost next to it you will find the highest point of the Netherlands, which is 322.5 meters above NAP and on Belgian territory there is a high tower that offers you a great view over the landscape. You pass a U-shaped white mansion. The current castle was built in 1761 by the cloth manufacturer Johann Arnold von Clermont from Aachen, who moved his factories to Vaals. A modern castle in classicist style was built on the estate and a beautiful park was laid out around the house, on which a mausoleum was built for relatives of the owner. At the castle, which has three wings that enclose a forecourt, there is also a castle farm with an old watermill called the Vaalsbroekermolen. Further along the route you will see two other beautiful historic watermills. On the edge of the town of Gulpen you will see the Neubourgermolen on the stream of the same name. This mill is also called the Molen van Roex. It is a medium-speed watermill that was installed in 1712 to grind paper. Until 1840, with the exception of the period 1809-1816, the mill ground clothing into pulp, from which paper was manually scooped. In 1853 it was decided to convert the mill into a grain mill, where a turbine with iron gear was installed in 1907. Further modernization was carried out in 1930, when an electric motor was installed in the mill. A restaurant and pancake house are located in the current national monument. Continuing the route, you will pass Groenendael Castle and the Groenendaalsmolen. Originally, the Groenendaalsmolen, which grinds on the water of the Gulp near Euverem, belonged to Groenendaal Castle. The exact year of construction is unknown, but what we do know is that the watermill was used to grind corn and was also called the"Groenendalsmolen\\\". In 1871, the mill and associated house had fallen into such disrepair that they were demolished and rebuilt. A gruesome fact is that in 1939 an eighteen-year-old servant was caught by a rotating axle. His injuries were so serious that he died. In 1966, the mill was completely converted into a house and thus lost its function as a corn mill. Because the mill is privately inhabited, it cannot be visited.