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Beautiful wooden paths in the Mombeek valley

On the really swampy parts they have provided good walking paths, but it is best to wear waterproof shoes!

Here you'll find the Bengelbeemd, an initiative of the Haspengouw & Voeren Regional Landscape. It's not a birth forest, but an alternative. The municipality of Alken planned to create a birth forest, but the organization advised against it. You can read the reasons why via the link below. Every year, "a picnic is organized in the Bengelbeemd after the hay harvest, where each newborn receives a one-square-meter picnic blanket." The bench with the sunflowers commemorates a young and much-loved resident of Alken who passed away far too soon in the summer of 2022. RIP, Julie. Link about the Bengelbeemd: http://www.rlhv.be/bengelbeemd Highlight also available at https://www.komoot.com/nl-nl/highlight/5999850

More information about the Bengelbeemd can be found at www.rlhv.be/bengelbeemd

You cross the Kozenbeek via this bridge. The Kozenbeek is a stream in Vochtig-Haspengouw. The stream rises in the north of the municipality of Nieuwerkerken at several sources in Kozen. In the municipality of Alken, the stream becomes a watercourse of the 2nd category and flows from the hamlet of Hulzen in Sint-Joris (Alken) to Terkoest. In Terkoest, the Kozenbeek flows through the village centre and the park of Kasteel d'Erckenteel. North of Terkoest, the Kozenbeek flows into the Herk, a tributary of the Demer

De Grote Beemd (also known as De Herkvallei) is a nature reserve near Russelt and directly north of Wellen. The area is located in the Herk valley, and was previously used as a hayfield. After haymaking, the area was used as a communal pasture: cows were allowed to graze there. In later years, poplars were planted there. The marshy area was acquired by Limburgs Landschap vzw and an attempt is being made to turn it into a small-scale cultural landscape again through targeted management. The nutrient-poor hayfields, with large rattle, bulbous saxifrage and spotted orchid are being restored to their former glory. There are also hawthorn hedges and swamp forests. The Graetmolen is also located here on the Herk.

Via the red walking loop you immediately descend into the valley and explore a beautifully preserved valley landscape of flower-rich grasslands, wooded edges and forests accompanying the stream via winding plank paths and over wooden bridges.

The chapel is the Chapel of Our Lady of Lourdes.