Experience the beauty of the Hoge Kempen

This route takes you through the Hoge Kempen National Park. The Hoge Kempen was established in 2006 and was the first national park in Belgium. The area is approximately 5750 hectares in size. You will mainly find coniferous forests and heathland here, but also deciduous forests, inland dunes, streams and fens. The Hoge Kempen consists of a number of (protected) nature reserves: the Mechelse Heide, the Vallei van de Ziepbeek, the Ven onder de Berg and the Neerharer Heide. The Hoge Kempen is located on the Kempens Plateau. With a height of between 50 and 100 meters, this national park is the highest part of the Kempen. It was built from the rubble that the Meuse brought from the Ardennes during the last ice ages. The route starts just below Genk and takes you through the forests to Eisden. Here you cycle past the former Eisden Coal Mine, which was in operation from 1923 to 1987. Some old mine buildings have been restored and have found a new purpose. On the former mining site, renamed Leisure Valley, Maasmechelen Village, an outlet centre, was built in 2001. From Eisden you cycle along the towpath along the Zuid-Willemsvaart, the almost 123 kilometre long canal that connects Maastricht with 's-Hertogenbosch. Above Dilsen you turn south again and cycle via the Drie Beukenbos back towards Genk, a former mining town in Belgian Limburg. Nowadays, the Genk economy no longer revolves around coal, but around shopping. The city has three large shopping centres, Shopping 1, 2 and 3. Shopping 1 dates from 1968 and is therefore the oldest shopping centre in Belgium.