Between two Ourthes

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A waterside route passing several viewpoints, notably the confluence of the two Ourthes. The Nisramont Dam and two footbridges are essential for crossing from one bank to the other.
Please note: this is a challenging walk (see practical information)

Details

n°150584
Creation:
Last update:
Last review:
  • Walking
    Activity: Walking
  • ↔
    Distance: 8.59 mi
  • ◔
    Average duration: 5h 00 
  • ▲
    Difficulty: Moderate
  • ⚐
    Back to start: Yes
  • ↗
    Ascent: + 1,191 ft
  • ↘
    Descent: - 1,191 ft
  • ▲
    Highest point: 1,348 ft
  • ▼
    Lowest point: 909 ft
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Photos

summit ridges
The last trail is uphill
Last footbridge
The first footbridge

Description of the walk

Car park at Engreux Church.

(S/E) Opposite the church, take the road to the right of it and head downhill to the Fork in the road.

(1) Turn left. The road becomes a concrete-slab surface before ending in a dirt track. Then take the forest track straight ahead. Pass through the hamlet of Fagnoule, continue downhill and, at the next junction, turn right. This wide path narrows as it descends to the banks of the Ourthe. Then turn right until you reach the footbridge.

(2) Cross the footbridge and, on the other side, turn left.

GR®® signposting(red and white).

Walk alongside the river for a while, then climb up to the Deux Ourthes viewpoint. Ignore any paths other than the main one, the GR®® trail.

(3) Return to the path with your back to the viewpoint and head straight on towards the Laid Tier viewpoint.

(4) Turn left and follow the ridge path to the Au Fays viewpoint.

(5) Continue along the path, which turns into steps. These will take you to the Nisramont dam crossing.

(6) Cross over the dam and turn left.

Red Diamond markings

Walk alongside the River Ourthe, ignoring the paths on your right, until you reach the Kwaï Bridge.

(7) Cross the bridge and begin the winding climb up to the shelter.

(8) Continue along the path, always following the Red Diamond markings, and ignore all the paths on your right to reach thesecond footbridge.

(9) Cross the footbridge and turn left. 150 metres further on, leave the signposted route and start the climb up the forest track on the right. Ignore the path on the left leading to the ADEPS (Sports Centre). The forest track becomes a road, which you continue along. Walk past the chapel and carry on straight ahead until you finally reach the church (S/E).

Waypoints

  1. S/E : mi 0 - alt. 1,296 ft - Car park at Engreux Church
  2. 1 : mi 0.07 - alt. 1,280 ft - Fork in the road after the church
  3. 2 : mi 1.06 - alt. 981 ft - Footbridge over the - Ourthe orientale (rivière) - Affluent de l'Ourthe
  4. 3 : mi 2.21 - alt. 928 ft - Viewpoint of the Two Ourthes
  5. 4 : mi 2.73 - alt. 1,165 ft - Viewpoint at Laid Tier
  6. 5 : mi 3.04 - alt. 991 ft - Viewpoint at Au Fays
  7. 6 : mi 3.49 - alt. 909 ft - Nisramont Dam on the - Ourthe (rivière) - Belgique
  8. 7 : mi 4.49 - alt. 978 ft - The Bridge on the River Kwai
  9. 8 : mi 4.71 - alt. 1,093 ft - Shelter
  10. 9 : mi 6.81 - alt. 948 ft - Footbridge over the - Ourthe occidentale (rivière) - Affluent de l'Ourthe
  11. S/E : mi 8.59 - alt. 1,296 ft - Car park at Engreux Church

Notes

Although rated as moderate, this walk is demanding due to its numerous ascents and descents. Do not underestimate yourself. Look carefully at the graph on a computer or in landscape mode on a smartphone to get an idea of the terrain. The elevation gain is 346 metres.

Refreshments available at the start/finish and at the foot of the Nisramont Dam.
The paths are muddy in places.
Some sections feature steps, bridges and ramps.
Benches are available near the church, at Laid Tier, and by the water’s edge on the first kilometre of the return path after the dam.
Shelters at points: (3) and (8)
From October to December, please be aware of hunting dates

Worth a visit

During

Viewpoints: at Deux Ourthes, Laid Tier, Le Fays and on the opposite bank above the Kwaï Bridge.
Fish ladders: near the footbridges (upstream of the dam), these allow fish to negotiate a man-made obstacle in a watercourse, such as a dam or a weir. They consist of a series of pools separated by short drops, which the fish are able to negotiate one at a time. Each pool is designed to create a recirculation zone with low flow velocities where fish can rest. The main challenge in installing a fish ladder is to ‘capture’ the fish downstream of it by creating a zone of intense, highly oxygenated current that will guide them to the foot of the ladder.

Nisramont Dam: 116 metres long and 16 metres high. Swimming is prohibited as it was built to supply drinking water to the entire region.

Nearby

La Roche-en-Ardenne: its castle and wildlife park
Houffalize
Achouffe and its beer
La Baraque Fraiture: Belgium’ssecond-highest peak, skiing in winter

Always be cautious and plan ahead when you're outdoors. Visorando and the author of this route cannot be held responsible for any accidents occurring on this route.

The GR® and PR® markings are the intellectual property of the Fédération Française de Randonnée Pédestre.

Downloads
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Reviews and comments

4.7 / 5
Based on 45 reviews
Reliability of the description
4.5 / 5
Ease of following the route
4.6 / 5
Route interest
4.8 / 5
User 27726828

Overall rating : 5 / 5

Date of your route : Sep 29, 2025
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : Yes

Very well

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fdessart
fdessart
• Edited:

Overall rating : 5 / 5

Date of your route : Aug 10, 2025
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : No

Very beautiful hike, as described: ~15km, quite physically demanding with a few technical sections.
A bit busy but still very reasonable.

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dbierlaire
dbierlaire

Overall rating : 5 / 5

Date of your route : Jul 12, 2024
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : Yes

Superb hike, popular but not too crowded. It feels like you're in Canada.

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catbalou
catbalou

Overall rating : 5 / 5

Date of your route : Jun 22, 2024
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : No

Not many people outside the tourist season and at weekends

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Elblanco
Elblanco

Overall rating : 3.7 / 5

Date of your route : Jan 20, 2024
Reliability of the description : ★★☆☆☆ Disappointing
Ease of following the route : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : Yes

Hello everyone,
A really enjoyable hike of over 15 km (not 13 as indicated). However, in the snow, it's a whole different ball game. You really need to take this into account. Some sections are technical and very slippery in the snow. Make sure you're well equipped for the cold.
There is some very interesting wildlife to see, including lots of birds and beavers.

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lazzerini
lazzerini

Hello 23091950,

There may be some confusion about the hike, as you mention the Semois, but here it is the Ourthe that takes centre stage. Western and eastern, but no Semois.
With all the rain we've had over the last few days, all the hikes near rivers are tricky.

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23091950
23091950
• Edited:

Overall rating : 4.3 / 5

Date of your route : Nov 09, 2023
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : No

Hello,

this hike is best done in summer, as the paths are very wet, the Semois river is very high, and there are some particularly
tricky, difficult to keep your feet dry

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lazzerini
lazzerini

@lemarcheur65 when a profile is private, which is the case for Vincentvince67, we are unable to send private messages. Only moderators have this ability.
However, I contacted him via his email address and found an unedited record of the GPS errors that caused 19 km to be recorded.

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Vincentvince67
Vincentvince67

EDIT: I just received a message from the moderators informing me that photos of routes are not allowed... Please feel free to email me for the route details.
Have a nice day.

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Vincentvince67
Vincentvince67

Hello Madam, thank you for your reply.
I took the liberty of posting the photos (print screens) from both the VISIORANO app (which shows part of the route; I take print screens to show my progress to my wife) and my SAMSUNG HEALTH app: the photo of the route and the main data. I hope the moderators will accept them.
If not, I can send you my email address: molle.vincent.vince@gmail.com, where you can write to me and I will send you the photos if the moderators refuse them (there are only three).
You will see that the routes are similar (I may have made one or two U-turns of a few metres, but that's all), and, in the other photo, that the distance of 19 km is confirmed.

I followed the markers all the way to the end.

Thank you also for your comment on the difficulty level and for trying to pass the information on to the moderators. As I mentioned, I did the forests around Montleban (which are also available on Visorando), which were used as the average for the difficulty level... Honestly, the two hikes are incomparable in terms of difficulty.

To end on a positive note, I will still post a few photos I took.

Have a great day and thank you for your responsiveness.

Vincent

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lazzerini
lazzerini

Hello Vincentvince67,

i'm very surprised by the mileage you've reported!
My husband just drove the same route last Sunday and got the same mileage.
Did you use a different app?
As your profile is private, I can't see your route to understand where the problem lies.
Did you start from the same place? Did you perhaps make a mistake and turn back? The complete route marked with red diamonds is 14 km long, but my route is shorter than what they suggest.
Did you take the wrong route?

The difficulty level is assessed by Visorando, which looks at the elevation gain and the number of kilometres. Given the number of comments about the assessment, I asked a moderator if I could change it to difficult or, at the very least, add "demanding hike" to the introduction. It's mainly a question of physical condition and perception.

Best regards

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Vincentvince67
Vincentvince67

Overall rating : 2.7 / 5

Date of your route : Oct 05, 2023
Reliability of the description : ★★☆☆☆ Disappointing
Ease of following the route : ★★★☆☆ Average
Route interest : ★★★☆☆ Average
Very busy route : No

I agree with the previous comment: THIS ROUTE IS 19.41 KM LONG, not 13.86 km as stated in the description. This really needs to be corrected for people who are choosing their route based on the length.
Furthermore, having done a route classified as moderate the day before (the Montleban forests), I can also confirm that the Ourthes route cannot be classified as moderate either. It is difficult, much more difficult:

1. due to the effort required, not only in terms of length, but also for certain sections, which are difficult (I strongly advise against this route for beginners, and forget about doing it with children, it would be downright irresponsible).

2. some sections are very uneven; the final section is a real challenge; here too, as previously mentioned, the last part is on a relatively steep slope

3. some sections are very steep, with a real risk of falling.

In the end, I agree with several reviews that describe this hike as magnificent, because it is true that the landscapes are relatively varied, and some of the views of the Ourthe are magnificent.

But I was very disappointed compared to the description: the length (VERY inaccurate) and the level of difficulty make the last 5 kilometres a real challenge, during which you mainly think about finishing and not falling over, rather than enjoying the scenery. As much as I enjoyed my two other hikes (Limerlé/Steinbach and Montleban), I would never have considered doing this one if I had known how long and difficult it was.

The positive thing is that getting to the end allowed me to push my limits... but at what cost!

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Ancal
Ancal

Overall rating : 5 / 5

Date of your route : Aug 20, 2023
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : Yes

A very beautiful route with many challenges but magnificent scenery. The only downside was the end of the route, with a 2 km climb back to the car

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Cindoche
Cindoche

Overall rating : 5 / 5

Date of your route : May 03, 2023
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : Yes

A magnificent, hilly and technical course offering beautiful views of the two Ourthe rivers.
Worthy of a mountain course
If you love nature, water, wildlife and flora, you'll be delighted

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lazzerini
lazzerini

Hello MTviso,

Everything is marked in the most important part. I also provide explanations at the beginning of each paragraph... Where did you encounter difficulties, and please let me know why you rated it "Average."

Best regards

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