Discovering the Sérésian forest

Olympic swimming pool car park, Avenue des Puddleurs 51, 4100 Seraing
[TEC] Avenue Davy stop – lines 43 and 46, 100 metres from the starting point

(S/E) Facing the swimming pool, leave the car park by going down to the right. At the corner of the building, turn left onto a very wide path that first runs alongside the swimming pool, then a large indoor athletics hall and finally a BMX route. When you reach the route, go through a metal barrier and follow a fence until you reach the only opening in it, on the right.

(1) Leave the wide path and turn right, following a trail that winds through the woods below the wide path you just left and along the valley of a stream on your right. At the junction with a path coming up from the right, continue straight ahead. Step over a concrete pipe to climb up the opposite slope. After 275 m, at the crossroads, continue straight ahead on a wide forest path until the next crossroads.

(2) Go up to the left. At the crossroads, continue straight ahead. Pass a path on the left with a blue mountain bike route and, a hundred metres further on, at a fire hydrant, you will come to a very wide lane.

(3) Follow it to the right but leave it after a few metres to climb a path on the left, following the yellow mountain bike route. Follow this path for 600 m, ignoring several side paths, until you reach the Seraing–Rotheux road after passing through a metal barrier and a cycle/pedestrian path.

(4) Cross it and continue straight ahead on a gravel path (signposted 'Except for service vehicles and cyclists') after passing through another metal barrier. After 270 m, at the crossroads, while the yellow mountain bike trail continues straight ahead, turn left. At the next crossroads, continue straight ahead and you will soon pass an arboretum on the left-hand side of the path, then come out onto Chemin du Ban, a wide forest lane.

(5) Follow it to the left, along with the red diamond PL. At the Y junction (bench and "no cyclists" sign), continue along the wide lane for about 50 metres until you reach a second Y junction (bench and "no cyclists" sign), then take the path on the right. Very soon, you will pass the "Mare aux Joncs" on the left-hand side of the path and come out onto a road.

(6) Follow it to the right. At the roundabout, cross at the pedestrian crossing, then cross a cycle and pedestrian path, go through a metal barrier and go down the path that enters the woods. At station no. 2 of a fitness trail, continue straight ahead, pass a path on the left and continue for 150 m on a wide path that slopes gently downhill, until just before station no. 3 of the fitness trail.

(7) Leave the wide path by turning left onto the path marked with a green cross (not very visible in the direction of the walk). You will come out onto the bend of another wide path. Leave the green cross path, which veers to the right, and continue slightly uphill. At an old water collection well (called "Chapeau Chinois" because of the shape of its old roof, which can now be seen on the ground), continue straight ahead. At the bottom of a short but steep descent, pass a path on the right. At the crossroads, at post no. 12 on the fitness trail, continue straight ahead, rejoining the Yellow mountain bike route. At the next crossroads (on the right is a small building belonging to the Société Wallonne des Eaux), where the yellow mountain bike trail turns left, continue straight ahead. Pass a path that descends to the right and you will soon arrive near a playground (old basketball hoop).

(8) Shortly before this playground and the exit from the woods, leave the wide path and turn right downhill. After a few metres, at the Y junction, follow the narrow path on the right which winds down the hill between the edge of the woods and the back of the houses. At the crossroads, level with the tennis courts (on the left), continue straight ahead and descend to a main road, Rue de la Vecquée.

(9) Cross this road and take the path that enters the woods, right next to the Seraing town sign. Very quickly, the path curves to the right. Follow the Vecquée stream for about a hundred metres.

(10) Without crossing the tiny confluence coming from the right, turn left and ford the stream, then keep left again to head back in the opposite direction, still following the stream. Go around a pile of fallen tree trunks on the right. At the next fork, take the path on the right for a short climb, then continue along the hillside. You will then descend to return to the edge of the stream. At the bottom of this descent, climb briskly up to the right to reach a cycle and footpath.

(11) Turn right and then immediately leave this path by climbing to the right onto the path that is closed to all traffic. Cross a small valley with the path winding through the woods. Pass three ditches and, just after the third, at the T-junction, turn left and continue to a Y-junction.

(12) Follow the path on the right, which soon begins to descend steeply to rejoin the stream you crossed earlier. Change banks and continue along the path to the left, following the green disc and red rectangle signs. Ford the stream three times to follow it, sometimes on the left bank, sometimes on the right bank, until you reach a Y-junction.

(13) Descend the path on the right to cross the stream one last time, again by fording it, then climb up to a main road. Cross it carefully, diagonally to the right, then take the wide path (on which cyclists and horse riders are allowed) that climbs into the woods (metal barrier). At the Y junction (sign prohibiting horse riders from going straight ahead), continue climbing to the left for 100 metres.

(14) At the crossroads, a few metres before post no. 6 on the fitness trail, turn left, following the PL Croix Verte sign again (not very visible as it is behind a tree). At the Y junction, take the path on the right (leaving the Croix Verte sign, which goes to the left). The path gets closer and closer to a road, passes a path on the right and reaches a fork (sign saying "Bienvenue dans la Forêt Domaniale de la Vecquée" [Welcome to the Vecquée National Forest]). Turn left, pass between two concrete posts, cross a cycle and footpath (bench) and then carefully cross the road to re-enter the forest, following the path just to the left of a street lighting pylon.

(15) The path curves to the left and joins a wide avenue. Follow it to the left. After a good hundred metres, do not follow the Croix Verte footpath but turn right onto another wide forest path. Follow it along a long straight stretch, crossing a crossroads under a high-voltage power line, to rejoin the Croix Verte footpath. You will reach a second crossroads (benches).

(16) Turn a quarter turn to the right. At the new crossroads (Bè Bon Diu shrine and benches), continue straight ahead, leaving the PL Croix Verte once again, and you will reach another crossroads (benches). Turn left to follow a wide, straight forest path. At the T-junction, turn right and follow another wide path until you reach the end of a wide curve to the left.

(17) Leave the lane and turn right onto a path that quickly becomes a trail winding through the woods. Along this section, admire the remarkable trees, mainly oaks but not exclusively, which are of a certain age, not to say very old. After crossing a small stream over a row of large stones serving as a footbridge, you will come out onto a forest path (bench). Follow it to the right. When the path curves to the right, continue straight ahead on the path, which is closed to horse riders and cyclists, and which begins to descend gently. Be careful! Before the bottom of the descent, shortly before reaching a road, leave it to go down to the left on a path that leads to the Source du Père Antoine.

(18) Pass by the spring, crossing the Ruisseau de Ville en Cour, also known as the "Ruisseau du Chéra", climb about ten steps and you will come out on the Seraing-Rotheux road. After a few steps to the right, cross it, cross the cycle and footpath, then enter the Neuville woods and follow the stony path on the left bank of the Ruisseau du Chéra (or Ruisseau de Ville en Cour). Ignore a firebreak going up to the left and you will reach a Y-junction.

(19) At this Y-junction (post with a sign saying "Chemin communal Drève du Chéra CV 7 de Neuville"), you have two options: either follow the main route (quite challenging) or, if the water is too high or you prefer an easier route, follow the "flood" alternative. For the main route, at the Y junction, continue straight ahead, still following the stream, then cross it via an old stone bridge. A few metres further on, at the Y junction, take the left-hand path, cross a small stream and start climbing a slightly steep path. Be careful! After 75 metres, leave this path and descend to the left onto a barely visible path towards the stream. At the bottom of the descent, follow the Ville en Cour stream on the right bank. Continue along the path, negotiating some tricky sections (particularly slippery in wet weather), sometimes close to the stream, sometimes further away and higher up, marked in the other direction by the red diamond sign. After a short descent followed by a short climb, you will reach a small clearing and sandstone boulders at a place called "Trou d'Ausny".

(20) Cross the clearing and continue straight ahead, still following the stream. Cross two more slightly tricky passages (to be avoided if the water is high), then the trail gradually moves away from the stream and climbs a little. Cross a small stone bridge and continue along a wide path. Pass a path that climbs to the right with the red disc sign. 60 metres further on, leave the path just before a tree with the Red Disc and Red Diamond markings in the opposite direction to descend a path on the left and return to the edge of the stream. Follow the stream to the right to come out onto a wide path to the right of a bridge. At this point, the "flood" variant arrives from the left.

(21) Note the confluence of the Ville en Cour stream with the Neuville stream opposite. From this point onwards, the stream on the right-hand bank retains the name Ville en Cour stream. Turn right onto the wide path (former local road) and follow it for 500 m until you reach clearly visible "Private property" signs that prevent you from continuing straight ahead.

(22) On the right, two paths lead up the hill. Take the second one, which goes up to the left of a small stream valley. After 500 m of climbing, the path joins a path coming down from the left in a hairpin bend . Go up this path on the left and you will come out onto a wide fenced lane.

(1) Follow it to the left to pass by the BMX track, the indoor athletics hall and the swimming pool to return to the starting car park (S/E).

This hike is located in the Province of Liège (neither in the Condroz nor in the Ardennes).

On the detailed IGN maps (on www current TOP 10 MAP using high magnification) and on the old black and white IGN maps from the 1970s, the names of the streams are very different:

1) The stream flowing down from Boncelles-Plainevaux and passing through the Source du Père Antoine to the confluence with the Neuville stream is called the Ruisseau de Chèra or Ruisseau de la Vecquée.

2) Beyond this same confluence with the Neuville stream, it takes the name Ruisseau du Fond du Bois de l'Abbaye (until it reaches the Meuse).

3) This same Ruisseau du Fond du Bois de l'Abbaye was split into two courses on the heights of Château de la Croix Saint-Hubert, i.e. downstream from Ferme de la Venne. One probably fed the Abbey mill. This locally diverted course (branch on the Meuse side) takes the name Ruisseau de Villencourt (in one word) and further on rejoins the original course, which has retained its name Ruisseau du Fond du Bois de l'Abbaye.

4) For the sake of completeness, on community map databases such as Wiki, OSM, Mapy, etc., the stream that flows from Boncelles-Plainevaux to the Meuse is known throughout as Ruisseau de Ville en Cour (in three words).

For the alternative route (19):

For the high water variant, despite the "Private Property" sign, take the path on the left, marked (not very regularly) with large blue dots painted on the trees, and follow it for 1600 m, ignoring, after 300 m, a wide path going up on the left. The variant runs along the stream below on the right. On this section, when the path is very close to the stream, on the other bank, you can see a large pile of rocks, which is the Trou d'Ausny. You will come out onto a wide path, further on the left, closed off by an imposing wire fence. Turn right and cross a small stone bridge to join the main path, which arrives from the right shortly after this bridge.

(5) The arboretum is worth a short detour (short round trip), especially to admire the magnificent giant sequoia in its centre.

(6) On the other side of the road, there is a large picnic area (with barbecue and tables). There are also numerous benches along the route.

(21) The "Trou d'Ausny" is located halfway up this rocky outcrop. A plaque is dedicated to Scout leader Louis Clément Picalausa (pioneer of Scouting in Sérésien).