With two guys in the house that absolutely love cycling. We had to hike this route. It is a 15.3 kilometer hike, starting in Nukerke in the Flemish Ardennes. The hike takes you along some of the famous climbs of the tour of Flanders. This time not with a bike, but we hiked on foot. 66% of the hike is paved, as it takes you along the beautiful back roads of the Flemish Ardennes. But you also cross through some of the most beautiful forests in the Flemish Ardennes. Especially in the spring, when all the spring flowers are blooming and the trees are starting to turn green.
We parked our car next to the church in Nukerke. Which is free of charge. In front the church you will find the first node. Which will take you out of town. Up until the road N60. which you have to cross, both at the beginning and at the end of the hike. But after the crossing you will walk along the most beautiful back roads and through the winding forests. The first forest that you will walk along is the Spijker Forest. It is one of the few forest laying on a south slope. Which means you can enjoy the sunshine here the entire day. Which we did, as we chose a beautiful sunny spring day to hike this route.
When you leave the forest of Spijker. You will walk along the beautiful country side of the Flemish Ardennes. With a beautiful view over the rolling hills. You will also have some climbs on your way. After a while, you enter back into the Spijker forest. When we were there the Spijker forest was covered in forest anemones. Which was incredibly beautiful. We also spotted a few bluebells already blooming.
Unfortunately we had to leave the forest again, and we headed over to the famous Koppenberg, with its 22% incline. Lucky for us, you hike up the Koppenberg from the side. You hike down the path the tour of Flanders comes up the incline. Ofcourse you can’t visit this iconic place of the tour of Flanders, without spotting a lot of cyclist. I wouldn’t have liked to trade places with them cycling up. If you are a cycling enthusiast, this is a perfect way to explore this iconic incline. You can do so without the pain of cycling up.
After the Koppenberg it was time to head back into the forest, this time it was the Koppenburg forest. If you don’t feel like hiking an incline, you can skip the hike up in the forest. As when you hike along the road you will end up at the same point again. As the nodes will only take you up the stairs in the forest and back down. We did hike up and down though. After this it was back into the Koppenbergforest for the last stretch of the hike. The Koppenberg forest is a beautiful forest. In the forest you will find information boards about the role the forest played in World War I. In spring you will also find bluebells in this forest. We didn’t spot any blooming yet, but the first signs of their leaves are already popping up everywhere. This forest path takes you through the forest back up the N60. Where you will hike parallel to it for about one kilometer. You have to cross it one last time to finish in the village of Nukerke.
Let me know if you would go and hike this beautiful route.
Starting point: Nukerkeplein, Maarkedal
Length: 15.3 kilometers
Starting point: Nukerkeplein, Maarkedal
Elevation: 350 meters
Time: we hiked this in 4 hours, with a lunch break
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