The best running trails around Boutersem

a quiet bicycle street

Through nature reserve Koebos where you are here or one of the other nature reserves in the valley of the Molenbeek. Chalky soil with lots of mistletoe in the trees. More about Koebos on https://www.komoot.com/nl-nl/highlight/2666792

Between Bierbeek and Lubbeek lies the Koebos, a beautiful old oak forest with beautiful spring flora. Mineral-rich spring zones in the valley provide remarkable plants. You can also enjoy a lovely walk in the impressive castle park. Since the Koebos acquired the status of nature reserve, the diversity of species has increased enormously. Hay meadows with meadowsweet, cuckoo flower and cuckoo flower have appeared. In the spring, the forest is coloured by the celandine and wood anemone, later followed by the Solomon's seal, the beetle orchid and the broad-leaved wasp orchid. Source: https://www.natuurpunt.be/natuurgebieden/koebos Characteristics of the Koebos also include its location in the Molenbeek valley: a calcareous soil, as evidenced by the many mistletoes and the giant horsetail.

Rebuilt eclectic country house designed in 1916 by architect Chrétien Veraart and surrounded by a park in landscape style, approximately 16 hectares, laid out from 1859; numerous old (sweet chestnuts and brown beeches) and rare trees. First, the Hof te Laar stood here, known since the fifteenth century as a leasehold farm of the monastery of Gempe. In 1789, it was sold to the son of the Baron van Roosbeek. Between 1800 and 1810, the Hof te Laar was purchased by Charles-Lambert-Joseph de Maurissens. He left it to his nephew, knight Edouard Godefroid de Maurissens (1793-1853). And a few years after his death, the south wing of the court was converted into a "castle". After WWII, the then owners left the castle domain and in 1948 the heirs sold the castle and park to the University of Leuven to build a 'sanatorium' (clinic for tuberculosis sufferers) on the edge of the park. Inventory of Immovable Heritage: Domain de Maurissens, https://id.erfgoed.net/erfgoedobjecten/303094

Just very nice and certainly at this time of year nice to sit. Ideal to keep an eye on the little ones but at the same time far enough to also rest or eat/drink in peace. The table with benches is very low so not for those who still have difficulty getting up :)

Sometimes play forests are fully developed with all kinds of play equipment and sometimes children have to make do with the toys that nature and space offer them. Here you will find a nice mix of both. Beautiful piece of forest, all kinds of fun and to make sure that the little ones get enough exercise: located on a wonderfully sloping piece.

Anyone looking for chapels in Lubbeek will almost inevitably end up at the chapel of Our Lady of Lubbeek. But there are other interesting smaller chapels where sometimes less information is available. This has already been included in the ODIS database and "Dries Clauwaert and Marieke Van Heukelom. Inventory of Chapels, chapels, grottoes, crosses, niches and other forms of Popular Devotion in Flanders, 1998-2007" as can be seen on https://www.odis.be/hercules/toonObj.php?taalcode=nl&id=9290 But that's it unfortunately. Otherwise I thought it was a fascinating construction, open and at the same time a little closed. Anyone have more info?

Beautiful but swampy forest. In rainy periods boots are a must!