Cycling around the Dune Belt

The Hoge Kempen is located on the Kempen Plateau. With an altitude of between 50 and 100 metres, this national park forms the highest part of the Kempen. It was built from the rubble that the Meuse brought from the Ardennes during the last ice ages. Vast pine forests alternate with purple flowering heathland, large ponds bear witness to gravel and sand extraction, high peaks offer magnificent views... it is not surprising that numerous rare and special animals live in this beautiful natural setting. It is a unique nature reserve where more than 5700 ha of forest and heathland are managed and protected. It extends over the municipalities of Dilsen-Stokkem, Maasmechelen, Zutendaal, Lanaken, Genk and As.

The heathland is the habitat of typical heathland birds such as curlew, woodlark and nightjar. In August and September, heather, bell heather and red bell heather colour hundreds of hectares of the Hoge Kempen purple. The south-facing slopes and the great variety in biotopes also make the Hoge Kempen an important habitat for warmth-loving insects such as the blue-winged grasshopper and the queen page. A large population of deer hides in the vast forests that surround the open heathland. This is also the habitat of remarkable birds of prey such as the goshawk.

You drive through the garden districts and continue on 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 drive 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. One of the large shopping centres dates from 1968 and is therefore the oldest shopping centre in Belgium. So it is worth driving past after your route if you still feel like shopping!