The Grote Nete is a tributary of the Nete in the Scheldt basin. It has a length of approximately 80 kilometers and is navigable from the Oosterlo barrier.
The Grote Nete originates northeast of Hechtel, approximately 1.5 km from the Dommel (which belongs to the Meuse basin). From Lier it flows together with the Kleine Nete and forms the Nete or the Beneden Nete. The Grote Nete is located further south than the Kleine Nete and flows through the municipalities of Meerhout, Balen, Geel-Oosterlo, along Laakdal, Westerlo, Herselt, Westmeerbeek, Hulshout, Booischot, Heist-op-den-Berg, Hallaar, Itegem, Herenthout, Berlaar , Bevel, Kessel and Lier. At the confluence with the Kleine Nete, the Grote Nete paradoxically has a smaller flow than the Kleine Nete.
Its main tributaries are the Wimp, the Molse Nete and the Grote Laak. Via the Grote Laak, the Grote Nete also received a lot of pollution from Tessenderlo Chemie.
From 2013 onwards, Natuurpunt started to gradually expand a connected nature reserve "Grote Netewoud" in the source area of the Grote Nete.
Before the last ice age (Weichselian), the valley of the Grote Nete was not so strongly eroded. During the penultimate ice age (Saalien), the Grote Nete drained into the Dijle valley via what is now the Laak valley. During the last ice age, vegetation declined and large-scale erosion occurred. The removed rubble blocked the drainage to the Laak and the Grote Nete then flowed into the valley of the Kleine Nete.