Walk Five. Storms, stones and the Centennial Oak.
Walk length 6 km.
Some people prefer the idea of a circular walk but in a forest there are good reasons to walk back the way you came. A few times when out cycling in the forest if have come across some beautiful paths and views which I hadn't seen before. Turned out I was going in the other direction for the first time. Changing you perspective pays dividends even when dealing with the same objective. As in nature, as in life. As if the two things were different.
A few years ago a decision was made to close several of the smaller parkings in the forest. It has made the forest more inaccessible which was perhaps the point. A large parking was opened off the Chaussée de Waterloo at Middenhut, Rhode-St-Genèse which is all very good (really?) but not very useful. So some of the starting points for these walks are a bit, well, meh. This is one such walk!
Park on the side of the road by the Esso station or nearby or take the 365a or W bus.
Some people prefer the idea of a circular walk but in a forest there are good reasons to walk back the way you came. A few times when out cycling in the forest if have come across some beautiful paths and views which I hadn't seen before. Turned out I was going in the other direction for the first time. Changing you perspective pays dividends even when dealing with the same objective. As in nature, as in life. As if the two things were different.
A few years ago a decision was made to close several of the smaller parkings in the forest. It has made the forest more inaccessible which was perhaps the point. A large parking was opened off the Chaussée de Waterloo at Middenhut, Rhode-St-Genèse which is all very good (really?) but not very useful. So some of the starting points for these walks are a bit, well, meh. This is one such walk!
Park on the side of the road by the Esso station or nearby or take the 365a or W bus.
And off we go. Cross over the Chaussée using the crossing by the car shop on the other side of Drève Pittoresque. Walk a short distance up the Drève St. Hubert and take the first footpath on your left which is called the Chemin de la Petite Espinette. The Petite Espinette was a former hunting lodge/shelter and was also mentioned in Walk One with its bigger cousin.
Don't take either of the two paths going off to your left, and follow this rather plain and uneventful path until you reach the intersection of the Drève de Lorraine and Drève du Haras. Haras is French for a stud farm and the forest, unsurprisingly, has a long connection with horses. There are still many stables around the edges of the forest to this day, although the stud farm to which this refers is long gone, as are others. A future walk will talk more about them.
On the other side of the road you will see the De Ridder memorial. Cross over taking a lot of care! In 1980 three violent storms hit the forest and surrounding areas.
Don't take either of the two paths going off to your left, and follow this rather plain and uneventful path until you reach the intersection of the Drève de Lorraine and Drève du Haras. Haras is French for a stud farm and the forest, unsurprisingly, has a long connection with horses. There are still many stables around the edges of the forest to this day, although the stud farm to which this refers is long gone, as are others. A future walk will talk more about them.
On the other side of the road you will see the De Ridder memorial. Cross over taking a lot of care! In 1980 three violent storms hit the forest and surrounding areas.
This was paid for by public subscription and commemorates not just the storms which felled some notable trees (more of that in another walk) but resulted in the death of the gendarme Marc de Ridder, who lost his life saving others.
You will now start on the Sentier du Vuylbeek. Foul stream, literally. But it's not. It's named for the colour it often takes which is reddish from iron deposits. Further up the stream after we turn back on this walk, and detailed in a further episode, you will pass through the site of an Iron Age settlement, the first known one in the area. The first part starts plainly enough but don't be impatient. This path is lovely.
You will now start on the Sentier du Vuylbeek. Foul stream, literally. But it's not. It's named for the colour it often takes which is reddish from iron deposits. Further up the stream after we turn back on this walk, and detailed in a further episode, you will pass through the site of an Iron Age settlement, the first known one in the area. The first part starts plainly enough but don't be impatient. This path is lovely.
The photo on the right is where it really starts. You seem to head to the forest road, Duboislaan, but just at the last moment you veer to the left. Now you meet the Vuylbeek. The path undulates, criss-crossing the stream and is not at all suitable for bikes (not allowed) or pushchairs (at your peril). Also, don't do this in the rain or after sustained rainfall, it is easy to lose your footing. Just keep going, and enjoy. After a while you pass the juction with the Sentier des Bouleaux (Path of the Birches).
Being part of the forest reserve, trees lay where they fell. See if you can identify which ones date from 1980. Most have been subsumed entirely back into the forest ecosystem.
Keep going, and you come across The Centennial Oak, named for the 100 year anniversary of the Friends of the Fôret de Soignes. If you love the forest, consider joining, they defend it. Yes I know 2019 - 1909 doesn't equal 100. I must ask them about it....
Shortly afterwards, before you reach the Chemin des Tumuli, you come to a handy bench with a view. Pause a while and have a drink. It's a good spot.
Now continue for very short while and turn right onto the Chemin des Tumuli. Yes, there are burial mounds or long barrows in the forest and if you turn left and keep going you will come to them. But they will be on a later walk and take in also the Iron Age settlement. It's a tarmacked path so watch out for cyclists as they speed down towards you. Just marvel at the view to your right across the valley as you gain altitude. Some of those trees are truly tall and you still are less than half-way up, visually.
Continue to the intersection with the Chemin de Pivart. Green Woodpecker path. You will see this.
Continue to the intersection with the Chemin de Pivart. Green Woodpecker path. You will see this.
Two anniversaries here. 1830-2005 is the 175th Jubilee of the founding of Belgium and 1980-2005 is the 25th anniversary of the aforementioned storms.
Now turn back and retrace your steps. You may remember I said that you find new things with a different perspective. Did you notice this old sign nearly completely integrated into the tree upon which it was originally placed? Can you work out what it once said?
Now turn back and retrace your steps. You may remember I said that you find new things with a different perspective. Did you notice this old sign nearly completely integrated into the tree upon which it was originally placed? Can you work out what it once said?
I set out on this walk knowing nothing of what I would experience. It was so worthwhile. Tread new paths or old ones in another direction and let your soul rejoice.
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