Circular in the forest starting from Herbiester

A route starting from the village of Herbiester, mainly through beautiful forests with ever-changing scenery, descending towards the Gileppe to the far end of the lake at the dam of the same name, and then back up to the village.
A significant part of the route follows small tarmac roads: between the waypoints (S/E) at (2) and (4) to (6), plus the short return to the village.

Details

3820813
Creation:
Last update:
Last review:
  • Walking
    Activity: Walking
  • ↔
    Distance: 6.98 mi
  • ◔
    Average duration: 3h 35 
  • ▲
    Difficulty: Moderate

  • ⚐
    Back to start: Yes
  • ↗
    Ascent: + 466 ft
  • ↘
    Descent: - 486 ft

  • ▲
    Highest point: 1,440 ft
  • ▼
    Lowest point: 1,024 ft

Photos

Description of the walk

Park at the junction of Chemin de Louba and Rue Tigelot.

(S/E) Start heading south at the junction with the Chemin du Louba, which leads to the stream of the same name. Be careful not to take the Chemin du Louba. Continue along the Chemin Herbister towards Werfà, to the edge of the village, and turn left onto a path.

(1) Passing alongside a private pond, continue along the track.

(2) Carry on, crossing the streams – including the Rau des Hayères – and the fords, then head towards the hamlet known as Les Rutenales.

(3) Passing the Ruisseau des Huttes, continue through the Bois de Mofa to reach the Gileppe. Cross the Gileppe at the ford if the water is not too deep; otherwise, there is a wooden footbridge* a few dozen metres further on to the right.

  • ‘’The footbridge was reported to have been destroyed by the floods of July 2021. It has since been rebuilt.’’

(4) Take the long, narrow road leading to the far end of the Gileppe Dam lake, veering sharply to the left.

(5) Find a campsite here. Cross the Gileppe on your left.

(6) Cross the Louba and turn left immediately after the bridge to take the uphill path that starts here ( steep at the beginning and difficult to access depending on the season or the state of the path); cross the Bois des Hés and then, on reaching Herbôfourire, follow the Route de la Croix du Baron and then Rue Tigelot. Turn left to reach the car park at the junction with the Chemin de Louba (S/E).

Waypoints

  1. S/E : mi 0 - alt. 1,283 ft - Car park at the Chemin du Louba junction
  2. 1 : mi 0.48 - alt. 1,257 ft - Private pond
  3. 2 : mi 0.84 - alt. 1,250 ft - Les Rutenales
  4. 3 : mi 2.4 - alt. 1,391 ft - Ruisseau des Huttes
  5. 4 : mi 3.04 - alt. 1,368 ft - The - Gileppe (rivière) à finaliser
  6. 5 : mi 5.05 - alt. 1,030 ft - Camping area
  7. 6 : mi 5.35 - alt. 1,027 ft - The Louba
  8. S/E : mi 6.98 - alt. 1,283 ft - Car park at the Chemin du Louba junction

Notes

(2) Les Rutenales: during the hunting season, access to certain areas is subject to restricted opening hours.

Reviews and comments

4.6 / 5
Based on 11 reviews

Reliability of the description
4.3 / 5
Ease of following the route
4.9 / 5
Route interest
4.5 / 5
User 1736575

Overall rating : 4.3 / 5

Date of your route : Jun 22, 2026
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : No

A lovely, shaded walk. Once we got near Lake Gileppe, the path to follow was rather difficult to find. This path is quite steep and difficult to access.

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Colben
Colben

Overall rating : 5 / 5

Date of your route : Oct 31, 2024
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : No

No problem

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GGbagas
GGbagas

Overall rating : 4.7 / 5

Date of your route : Apr 06, 2024
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good
Very busy route : No

Nice walk, relatively easy. The bridge has been repaired :-)
Thank you

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sasab888
sasab888

Overall rating : 5 / 5

Date of your route : Jul 25, 2023
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : No

A beautiful hike for forest lovers! Not much in the way of views, but we enjoyed being surrounded by trees the whole time. There's a section of about 3.5 kilometres on the road, but we didn't see any vehicles
Despite the rain, we had a great time.

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fred_borre
fred_borre

Overall rating : 4 / 5

Date of your route : Oct 30, 2022
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★☆☆☆ Disappointing
Very busy route : No

Beautiful forest trails in autumn – however, very few actual paths, lots of wide paved forest roads and a long stretch on a gravel path – fortunately, there is a nice trail just before the end.

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BENMILOU
BENMILOU

Overall rating : 5 / 5

Date of your route : Oct 27, 2021
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : No

Very beautiful walk, but 40% of the route is parish specific to Brittany.
At point 3, the footbridge no longer exists, probably destroyed during the floods, so we had to walk over rocks.
Then descent on asphalt roads.
At point 6, after the bridge, turn left and then immediately right. Barbed wire prevents you from continuing straight ahead, but the path is on the right when you look at the barbed wire.
Very beautiful walk through the beech woods.

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Van Deyck
Van Deyck

Overall rating : 4.7 / 5

Date of your route : Apr 26, 2021
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : No

A very pleasant walk with very little road traffic. We encountered very few people. A magnificent location.

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Jane1261
Jane1261

Overall rating : 5 / 5

Date of your route : Feb 28, 2021
Reliability of the description : Not used / Not applicable
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : No

Very beautiful route. Virtually no roads.

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lucvertongen
lucvertongen

Overall rating : 4.3 / 5

Date of your route : Jan 31, 2021
Reliability of the description : ★★★☆☆ Average
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : No

A beautiful loop in the forest, easy to access as it is always on fairly wide forest paths or roads with little elevation gain.
One downside, however: the route description is rather vague for someone who doesn't use an app. Mainly, the text in point 6, "stay on the path," is confusing. I stayed on the main track, which led me to the lake, when I should have turned left just after the bridge to take the path that starts there!

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Vdh
Vdh

Overall rating : 4.7 / 5

Date of your route : Dec 13, 2020
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : No

Very beautiful, very quiet, allow 1 hour less than advertised.

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gfeller
gfeller

Overall rating : 3.7 / 5

Date of your route : Nov 21, 2020
Reliability of the description : ★★★☆☆ Average
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★☆☆ Average
Very busy route : No

A pleasant walk through open, light forests, but mainly on tracks. For this reason, allow 1 hour less than the time calculated by Visorando. A waypoint would have been useful after 5, when taking the path back up.

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