Enjoy walking in Tessenderlo

You walk on the basis of this route through the wonderfully quiet Gerhagen nature reserve, located in Belgian Limburg just west of the village of Tessenderlo. Here you will find beautiful quiet fens, heathland and shifting sand areas. Your starting point is Café-Brasserie De Bosrand in Tessenderlo. Literally on the edge of the forest, this is a cozy place and a popular stopping place for cyclists and walkers. You can start with a nice cup of coffee or tea. If you plan to start very early, you can even have breakfast here. You can reserve this via the website.

Less than half a kilometer from the start you walk past the Forest Museum Gerhagen. This small nature museum is worth a visit because you will find very nice exhibitions that relate to the nature reserve you are walking through. The museum is passionately driven by the nature association Werkgroep Ecologie Tessenderlo. You have free access during the opening hours that you find on their website, so you don't have to leave it at that. The museum has permanent exhibitions with lots of visual material, but also temporary exhibitions related to the season.

The 18.75 meter high VVV tower is located near the Forest Museum. Also really worth the climb, you have a beautiful view of the entire area. You can see, among other things, the Houterenberg. This is a so-called witness hill. These are hills of iron sandstone that originated in the time when Flanders was still under water. The sands deposited in this period are called the sands of Diest (Diestiaan sands). The special thing about this sand is that it has a strong glauconitic content. Glauconite contains relatively much iron. The hills thus testify to the former existence of the Diestian Sea and are therefore called witness hills.

From the viewing tower you first go a few kilometers through fairly dense coniferous forest. Halfway through the walk, the forest breaks open more often for a field or meadow. After eight kilometers you will return to Café-Brasserie De Bosrand. Time for a nice lunch? You will not visit the town of Tessenderlo now, but you can visit it later. Definitely worth a visit there is the Sint-Martinuskerk on the Markt. Especially the so-called choir screen or choir screen is a sight to see. It dates from 1520 and is one of the five Gothic rood screens that Belgium still has. This rood screen, actually a'stone lace\\\', is one of the largest and most beautiful in Belgium.