Exploring the mining region: Houthalen-Helchteren

In the mining region around Houthalen-Helchteren you will find -of course- many remains from the industrial past, such as a mine spoil heap that you can climb and a café on the former mining site. But you will also discover a centuries-old castle, with a brewery!

Mine dump Zolder
Your route starts at VVV-Toerisme Houthalen-Helchteren, where you can find all the information about this beautiful green region. You will soon cycle to the Zolder mine (with café!), where you can climb the slag heap for a beautiful view. In this former agricultural region, several village-like garden districts were built in the twenties and thirties of the last century to accommodate the influx of miners. Such as Lindeman, which you will cycle through.

Castle Brewery
Near Helchteren the landscape undulates slightly. You pass here Kasteel Ter Dolen from the thirteenth century. The castle was once the summer residence of the abbots of the Abbey of Sint-Truiden. Renovations in the eighteenth century gave the building the appearance of a country house. The castle brewery is located in the castle farm, be sure to have a drink here! A beautiful route through forest and heathland takes you past the slag heap of Winterslag back to Houthalen.