The Porter Route from Balen

In the municipality of Balen you can admire the unique Kempen landscape in all its beauty every season of the year. Many of the tourist treasures are safely hidden in unique pieces of quiet nature.

The name of this route comes from the nickname used for the inhabitants of Balen: the'Balense church porters\\\'... after all, a legend tells that the church of Balen would first have stood in Scheps and that which was later transported to the current center by wheelbarrow.

The cycle route departs from the De Kruierie leisure center, where the tourism department is also located. You leave the center of Balen via the cycling junctions and cycle towards the Keiheuvel recreational domain. The Keiheuvel consists of drifting sand dunes, heathland and forests. Then you cross the bridge from the film'Groe(n)ten uit Balen and cycle along the canal to Beverlo in a beautiful natural setting. You continue cycling through the Most and Vennen nature reserves, where you will find meadows, meadows and swamp forests. This way you reach the Olmen district, with the Olmen Zoo as a major attraction. We then find the Straalmolen at the confluence of the Grote Neet and the Heiloop. You reach the Dessel-Kwaadmechelen canal and after a nice stretch of cycling along this canal you eventually return to the starting point over the bridge.