On the way to the Fourneau Saint-Michel

Starting from Masbourg, the forest trails will take you halfway to the Fourneau Saint-Michel, an estate comprising the open-air museum of rural life in Wallonia and the Iron Museum, with a return trip through the heights of the Masblette valley.

Details

3340443
Creation:
Last update:
Last review:
  • Walking
    Activity: Walking
  • ↔
    Distance: 10.78 km
  • ◔
    Average duration: 3h 55 
  • ▲
    Difficulty: Moderate

  • ⚐
    Back to start: Yes
  • ↗
    Ascent: + 283 m
  • ↘
    Descent: - 283 m

  • ▲
    Highest point: 434 m
  • ▼
    Lowest point: 234 m

Photos

Description of the walk

Parking along the Masblette in the centre of Masbourg.

(S/E) Follow the hiking signs and the bus shelter on your left, then head towards the road bridge over the Masblette.

Green diamond markings

Cross the bridge and turn left at thefirst road. Ignore the path on your right and continue on the road, which becomes a trail. At the fork (not shown on the map), continue to the right. Turn left at the stairs. The path then turns sharply to the left. Back on a forest path, turn left. Ignore the path on your right and the ford for vehicles.

(1) Turn right onto the footbridge. Climb up to the road, taking the path opposite. At the road, turn right and ignore the road leading to Nassogne on your left.

(2) Cross over and take the next dirt track, at a place called Pointe du Crawi. Climb for 800 m until you reach a T-junction at a place called Sol Vau.

(3) Turn right and cross the Ri des Misdreux.

(4) At the crossroads, continue straight ahead until you reach the road.

(5) Turn left and follow the road and the estate fence carefully for 1 km.

(6) Turn right, passing in front of the entrance to the Fourneau Saint-Michel estate. After the bridge over the Masblette, take the forest path on the right.

(7) At the fork, keep left. Climb for 800 m to the road, cross it and continue along the path opposite.

(8) At the crossroads, turn right. The path merges with the meadow for a short while. Pass the hamlet of Aux Gendarmes. The path runs alongside a fence to the road and the hamlet of Mormont. Turn left, leaving the marked path.

No markings

(9) Turn right at the first less marked path and walk for just under 1 km on a little-used path with fallen trees to avoid in places. The path turns sharply to the left, becomes wider and leads to a forest track. Turn right until you reach the road.

Bike Markings 4: Red Triangle on two Red Circles

(10) Turn left onto the forest track. At the crossroads, continue straight ahead for 1.5 km.

(11) At the intersection, turn right. The trail descends, turns sharply and climbs again. Leave the forest and walk along an orchard. The trail becomes a road. At the intersection with another road, turn right and pass in front of a chapel. At the church, keep to your left and descend, leaving the trail markers behind.

Cross the bridge over the Masblette again and return to your car park (S/E).

Waypoints

  1. S/E : km 0 - alt. 234 m - Parking along the Masblette
  2. 1 : km 1.45 - alt. 252 m - Footbridge on the right
  3. 2 : km 1.61 - alt. 258 m - Dirt track
  4. 3 : km 2.43 - alt. 331 m - At the intersection, turn right.
  5. 4 : km 3.08 - alt. 328 m - At the crossroads, go straight ahead.
  6. 5 : km 3.83 - alt. 301 m - Road, on the left
  7. 6 : km 4.84 - alt. 301 m - Turn right at the fork.
  8. 7 : km 5.12 - alt. 308 m - Fourche, on the left
  9. 8 : km 6.01 - alt. 369 m - At the crossroads, turn right.
  10. 9 : km 6.7 - alt. 407 m - First trail not very well marked on the right
  11. 10 : km 7.85 - alt. 386 m - Road, on the left
  12. 11 : km 9.35 - alt. 297 m - Crossroads, on the right
  13. S/E : km 10.78 - alt. 234 m - Parking along the Masblette

Notes

Another car park opposite the church.

Domaine du Fourneau Saint-Michel: admission fee, but reasonably priced. Allow 1 to 2 hours for a tour of the estate.

From October to December, bear in mind the hunting season: Losange Vert walk and mountain biking 4.

No water on the route.

Worth a visit

During

The Domaine du Fourneau Saint-Michel consists of two separate museums: the Open-Air Museum, which takes you back to rural life in the 19th century in the south of the Sambre-et-Meuse valley, and the Iron Museum, housed in a former blast furnace, a listed and exceptional heritage site where you can relive proto-industrial steelmaking.

Reviews and comments

4.9 / 5
Based on 7 reviews

Reliability of the description
5 / 5
Ease of following the route
5 / 5
Route interest
4.7 / 5
albinetdenise.lejeune29
albinetdenise.lejeune29

Overall rating : 4.7 / 5

Date of your route : Apr 23, 2024
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good
Very busy route : No

A lovely walk, mostly through the forest, but without any exceptional views, apart from the Fourneau Saint Michel estate, the beautiful orchard on the way back to Masbourg, the large crows seen and heard near the place known as Les Gendarmes, and the pheasants after the 815 m climb after Fourneau Saint Michel, the robins, blackbirds, flowering broom, chickweed... All in all, it's not too bad. Thank you for creating and sharing it.

Machine-translated

carnaval
carnaval

Overall rating : 5 / 5

Date of your route : Jun 15, 2021
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : No


A very beautiful hike through wooded areas untouched by human intervention. However, there are a few challenging climbs.
We set off from and returned to Fourneau Saint Michel, which offers convenient parking and, on arrival, a delicious lunch offering excellent value for money.

Machine-translated

lazzerini
lazzerini

Hello Bernard Thiry,

The duration is calculated automatically by the Visorando software.
Depending on each person's walking speed, it can vary greatly.

Kind regards

Machine-translated

Bernard Thiry
Bernard Thiry

Overall rating : 4.7 / 5

Date of your route : Mar 16, 2021
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good
Very busy route : No

Very beautiful route, a bit muddy today. Estimated time: less than 1.5 hours at a brisk walking pace.

Machine-translated

Marie-Anne Bétermier
Marie-Anne Bétermier

Overall rating : 5 / 5

Date of your route : Jan 25, 2021
Reliability of the description : Not used / Not applicable
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : No

Nice walk. Impeccable signposting. Few roads. Best done in dry weather (here the snow was melting) as it was very muddy and the paths were flooded.

Machine-translated

lazzerini
lazzerini

Indeed, she ticks all the boxes.

Kind regards

Machine-translated

Fontaine BER
Fontaine BER

Overall rating : 5 / 5

Date of your route : Dec 31, 2020
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : No

Thank you for the information sheet, which helped us discover a hike that met our expectations: forest paths, few roads, route, and passages near a river!

Machine-translated

P Dardenne
P Dardenne

Overall rating : 5 / 5

Date of your route : Aug 10, 2020
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : No

Lovely walk in the shade of the forest given the scorching weather conditions.

Machine-translated

Girard Daniel
Girard Daniel

Overall rating : 5 / 5

Date of your route : Jul 06, 2020
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : No

Thank you!

Machine-translated

Other walks in the area

For more walks, use our search engine .

The GPS track and description are the property of this route's author. Please do not copy them without permission.