La Houppe, 7880 Flobecq
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Preview waypointsYou encounter not one, not two, but three forests on this route. Walk towards the Livierenbos - where wolves used to live - to end with a steep climb through the Pottelbergbos. Along the way, you also enter the Brakelbos. There's plenty of variety, as you also pass through the Miners' Path, a section of old railway line that is now a walking and cycling path. Along the route, you're also treated to phenomenal views over the surrounding fields.
La Houppe, where three roads intersect and four cafés satisfy hunger and thirst. The latter is especially good to know for the end of your journey because, due to the lack of resting places along the way, hunger and thirst are lurking mercilessly. If you occasionally need a pick-me-up along the way, it's best to bring it in your backpack.
Just beyond the Chapel of Saint-Christophe, the route immediately leads you into the Brakelbos, on the flank of the Mont de Rhode. The name of the "roe deer path", which we follow to the end of the forest, is not chosen by chance. There are indeed roe deer living in the Brakelbos, hence why you may need to pass through a gate here and there. In spring, the wild hyacinth weaves a blue-purple carpet here. In autumn, various types of fungi provide a spectacle.
Boskanter is a non-profit organization, born from the transition movement, which aims to make people less dependent on fossil fuels. Its base is the farmstead of Ine and Dirk, where a barn has been converted into an educational center. You can stay overnight in the sleeping loft and attend various workshops, including sourdough bread baking, building your own rocket stove, or working with clay and natural paints. Every first Saturday of the month, the stone oven is fired up for a pizza feast.
Approximately at the location where a water mill used to be, in 2011, the Flemish Environment Agency (VMM) established a controlled flooding area designed to protect the center of Nederbrakel from potential flooding during heavy rainfall. It is one of three recently constructed flood areas within the municipality of Brakel, alongside Leiemooie (Nederbrakel) and Groenstraat (Michelbeke).
It might not be immediately apparent, given the many hills, but a century ago, several trains chugged through the landscapes of the Flemish Ardennes and the Pays des Collines. Just beyond the Okkerbeke hiking trail, we cross a section of the old railway line from Aalst to Zottegem to Ronse, which transported Flemish miners to the coal mines of Hainaut until 1963. In 1978, a cycling and hiking path was laid out on part of the old track bed. At the corner of Thijsweg and Tenbergen (past Okkerbeke, a short distance to the right), the old station building of Opbrakel now serves as a residence.
Beyond the wayside chapel on Livierenstraat, we step across the language border towards Livierenbos, which is almost entirely located within the territory of Flobecq. The name of the forest - in French, Bois de la Louvière - is of Roman origin and refers to the presence of wolves. Until the 17th century, wolves lived in the forest, often leading to fierce hunts. The gigantic transmitter mast of the American army at the edge of the forest can be seen from kilometers away: an important landmark for those who lose their way along the journey.
We leave the forest behind and arrive in the tiny village of Flobecq-Bois. Even there, the train used to make a stop. Every Sunday, people from Ghent would head to Flobecq-Bois to enjoy nature. A bit further, in the district of Sainte-Anne, stands a remarkable chapel from 1642, situated where a hermitage dating back to the 9th century once stood. Religious services were held there until the 1980s. To view the chapel, one should continue straight ahead along the hiking trail that leads us away from Sainte-Anne.