バランのバイクパーク・トップ20

Lovely path through beautiful nature.

In my opinion, this is the toughest climb in the Ardennes. The gradient increases significantly as you turn, reaching 20% in the middle section. Your legs don't get any real rest until you reach the drag lift with mountain bikers, and then, as a final treat, you have to push hard. Not the most beautiful climb, but the one you'll reach the top with the most pride and the highest heart rate.

Two marked hiking trails, approximately 1.7 km and 3 km in length, start from the Maison du Site Miner (Maison du Site Mining). Both routes lead through a nature reserve created on former mining land. Along the trails, there are 12 information stations, providing information about the viaduct, the slag heap landscape, and the "La Gueule" cave, among other things. Admission is free, and pets are allowed. The site is accessible and has the Certified Access-i label. Dry restrooms are also available for visitors.

I was lucky and was able to ride this section downhill, but great caution is still required.

Even in dry times some water flows down. Still a bit too challenging for me with XC bike

About 30 metres above the Warche you can follow a beautiful natural hill path. A must for the sporty walker, over rocky and root paths. You hardly ever walk on the flat, it goes up and down and sometimes steeply. In some places you can catch a glimpse of the stream during this period (spring), but the foliage prevents the view down. In winter this will be better. But the spring forest also has its exceptional charm and the views over the valley to the beautiful gorse slopes are just as beautiful. Several high points on the route offer exceptional views (Nez Napoleon, rest points, etc.). Good footwear is recommended.

Very steep climb! save your energy for the last hop.

The oldest mention of the mine dates back to the year 1365. Jan van Wambeke, dean of the chapter of Saint Servatius in Maastricht, wrote that he had received interest from the Duchy of Limburg due to the Bradersbergh mine. Mining took place where veins of ore rose to the surface. In addition to opencast mining, there were four thirty-meter-deep shafts in the Braesberg or Bleyberg, which led into an 800-meter mine gallery. The region is rich in heavy metals, as there are other quarries where zinc has been extracted, such as in Völkerich, Welkenraedt (Lantzenberg), Walhorn and La Calamine (Altenberg). In 1427, Philip the Good, Duke of Burgundy, rented the lead mine for one ninth of the revenue and for fifteen years to three men from Aachen: Jean Bernage and the brothers Herman and Geryt Pael. Under the reign of this triumvirate, the mine was extensively flooded. Then came three other tenants: Jean van der Moer, Guillaume Nekens and Pierre Danckaerts. According to Jean de Dalhem, intendant of the Duchy of Limburg, this second trio was still tenants in 1445. In the centuries that followed, setbacks, such as war devastations and floods, and prosperity alternated. At that time, the Braesberg, where the ore deposits are around a meter thick, was mainly mined north of today's village.