ピアのバイクパーク・トップ20

Thor Centralは、鉱山閉鎖後に遺産として保護された、力強く印象的な産業建築です。Waterschei鉱山跡地の意味のある機能の模索と、この敷地をテクノロジーパークとして開発する選択肢には、この美しい建物を新たな未来へと導くという使命も含まれていました。Thor CentralはThor Parkサイトの中心です。レストランPartaaschとブラッスリーLampadaを擁するフードプラザの外には、主に会議室、講堂、中央受付、さらには託児所を備えたビジネス用途があります。定期的にイベントや展示会が開催されています。

「デ・テュート」自然保護区は、ケンペン高原の麓にあります。ロースターベーク川はこの地域に広い谷を刻みました。この変化に富んだ地形のおかげで、針葉樹林、ヒースランド、池、河畔林など、多様な植物群落が発達しました。保護区入り口にある顕著な高原の縁からは、リンブルフ州中部の大部分の素晴らしい景色を眺めることができます。

Overall, this place and the surrounding area is a great practice ground for sand riding and has beautiful nature.

On the outskirts of Genk lies Thor Park, a unique place where natural heritage and technology converge. This former mining site has been transformed into one of the official gateways to the Hoge Kempen National Park, and you can feel it from the moment you enter. Here begins a landscape that has been constantly evolving: from industrial worksites to vast nature reserves where tranquil heathland and forests once again take center stage. Numerous walks depart from the park, taking you deeper into nature. The Klaverberg, a green slag heap towering above the landscape, offers expansive views of Genk and the surrounding forests. The Heiderbos welcomes you with open pine forests, soft moss, and heather vegetation that glows purple in summer. Even lower in the landscape lies the Thorpark Valley, a serene depression where water zones, young plants and birds, are slowly taking their place. Boardwalks lead you past heathland fens and wetlands so characteristic of the Hoge Kempen: quiet, fragile, and beautiful. It's an area built on the remains of vanished industry—a landscape that now speaks of restoration, resilience, and the power of nature. Yet, Thor Park is more than just nature today. It's also a breeding ground for the future. Where miners once dug down shafts, they're now working on solutions for tomorrow. Here you'll find EnergyVille, the research center for sustainable energy and smart energy systems. The site also boasts several modern business incubators and campuses where technology, design, and innovation reinforce each other. This tension between past and future—between old mining structures and sleek modern buildings—gives Thor Park its unique character. It feels like walking through a place that's constantly reinventing itself. Dotted between the buildings are paths and open spaces, artworks that perfectly complement the story of Thor Park. "Courteous Bow" and "Greeting" are beautiful examples: wooden sculptures that gently evoke human interaction and encounters in the heart of an environment that once revolved around labor and industry. They add a touch of poetry to the landscape. Thor Park is much more than a starting point: it's a place where nature embraces the past and where innovation shapes the future. An area where every walk brings a piece of history, a view, restoration, and tranquility, and where you enter the Hoge Kempen region with the feeling that the landscape has been waiting for you for centuries.

https://www.nationaalparkhogekempen.be/nl/thorpark "Thorpark is a 10 km² area behind the former Waterschei mine and has been part of the national park since 2018. Here you'll find everything the Hoge Kempen has to offer: mining mountains surrounded by heath and pine forests, a beautiful stream valley, juniper berries, and inland dunes. A few striking buildings add a touch of character to the landscape: the As Children's Colony and the Waterschei Coal Mine (Thor Central). If you'd like to see what the UNESCO candidacy is all about, you'll find a nice taste here. You can already take a long walk there, but there's no entrance gate yet, as is familiar to the other gates. Thor Central will serve as a gateway in the future. Now you can visit this building, which serves as an event center, without obligation, take a guided tour, or enjoy a snack or a drink in beautiful historic surroundings. Thor Central is also the vibrant Heart of a growing business and science park where technology, research, energy and innovation are at the heart."

beautiful heath landscape in autumn

Mtb parcour is top

There is now also a mammoth skeleton in De Kuil. Don't believe it? Read more here: https://www.zonhoven.be/rendierjagerspad De Kuil has indeed been included - and successfully - in the new Reindeer Hunters' Trail. Be sure to walk around there too, new benches, information boards and fun things that refer to prehistoric times. And if you want to see the cross-country skiers at work, you should definitely also check out the grass areas behind the pit where sometimes a runner goes up high via one of the ski jumps.