Between forests and steppe landscapes in Ternell

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For those who like to cover a lot of ground, there are various forests (coniferous and deciduous) to explore, as well as the boardwalks and peat bogs of the Hautes Fagnes.

Details

n°148631
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  • Walking
    Activity: Walking
  • ↔
    Distance: 19.22 km
  • ◔
    Average duration: 6h 20 
  • ▲
    Difficulty: Moderate
  • ⚐
    Back to start: Yes
  • ↗
    Ascent: + 295 m
  • ↘
    Descent: - 295 m
  • ▲
    Highest point: 622 m
  • ▼
    Lowest point: 426 m
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Photos

La Helle
A little taste of Canada?
Les Fagnes
Bridge over the stream

Description of the walk

Parking at Haus Ternell N67.

(S/E) Leave the car park and head towards the buildings, including the Haus Ternell nature centre

(1). Take the path that descends between the two houses (green cross) and join the tarmac road below. Turn left and walk along the deer enclosure.

(2) When you reach the forest house on your right, leave the road and take the path on the right-hand side of the house. Follow this path as it winds through the forest, alongside the stream, until you reach a fork. Follow the yellow cross to the left, cross the bridge and descend to the right to reach a forest path.

(3) Turn left and follow the Helle for about 5 km. You will come to two intersections with other forest paths; continue along the Helle until you reach the third intersection.

(4) Take the tarmac road on the left (first difficulty) and leave the banks of the Helle. Climb up to another tarmac road.

(5) Turn right, follow this road to an intersection, then continue left towards "Hattlich" and climb up to a crossroads.

(6) Turn right towards "Mutzenich". Continue along this road and, after a few bends, you will see the path on your left that leads into the Hautes Fagnes nature reserve (flagpole, sign): you are in Hobbe and you are heading for Brackvenn.

(7) Follow the duckboards and walk through the fens. Turn right at intersections. When you reach the N67, cross with caution.

(8) Continue straight ahead until you reach a path on your right called "Kaiser Karls".

(9) Take the path and follow the duckboards. At the only intersection you encounter, turn left towards "Entenpfuhl". At the edge of the moor, turn left until you reach the next crossroads.

(10) Turn right (GR®). Walk along a coniferous forest and then a peat bog on your right. Just around the bend in the road, continue straight ahead and cross the bridge.

(11) Follow theGR® along the forest path.

(12) At the intersection, turn left.

(13) At the entrance to the forest, turn left and follow either of the paths downhill.

(14) When you reach the forest path, leave theGR® and take the bridge on your left. Cross the Getzbach and immediately take the path on the right (green cross) (last difficult section). Cut across the road to continue straight ahead on the path. At the end of the climb, you will come to a road; turn right.
At the end of the road, you will be at the starting car park (S/E).

Waypoints

  1. S/E : km 0 - alt. 505 m - Ternell House (Haus Ternell) N67
  2. 1 : km 0.07 - alt. 506 m - Path between the two houses.
  3. 2 : km 0.42 - alt. 503 m - Forest house
  4. 3 : km 1.3 - alt. 430 m - Forest path intersection
  5. 4 : km 6.12 - alt. 541 m - 3rd intersection
  6. 5 : km 6.78 - alt. 577 m - Crossroads with a road
  7. 6 : km 8.97 - alt. 618 m - Crossroads
  8. 7 : km 10.28 - alt. 622 m - Entrance to the Hautes Fagnes
  9. 8 : km 11.94 - alt. 611 m - N67 junction
  10. 9 : km 12.16 - alt. 606 m - Entrance to the Fagnes
  11. 10 : km 13.58 - alt. 586 m - Crossroads
  12. 11 : km 15.42 - alt. 530 m - Wooden bridge
  13. 12 : km 15.76 - alt. 531 m - Crossroads
  14. 13 : km 17.58 - alt. 488 m - Entrance to the forest
  15. 14 : km 18.16 - alt. 441 m - Wooden bridge
  16. S/E : km 19.22 - alt. 505 m - Ternell House (Haus Ternell) N67

Notes

Be sure to check the accessibility conditions: Fagnes. We hike in the North-East Fagnes (Ternell, Brackvenn) and in zone B (see the "maps" tab).

There is no drinking water along the route: take plenty of water with you if you are hiking in summer, as there is only shade for the first few kilometres. As the soil in the Fagnes is very acidic, none of the streams you encounter can be used to fill your water bottles (antimicrobial tablets will not help, as this is not a case of bacterial contamination).

Picnic table at the viewpoint (6) and bench with a small roof for shelter in the car park at the viewpoint (8).

This is an ideal hike in autumn to see the heather in bloom (already at the end of August) or in winter to see the dry grasses reminiscent of the steppes.

Worth a visit

The "Haus Ternell" nature centre.
La Helle: red-coloured water due to its high iron content.
The Brackvenn information boards.

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.

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Reviews and comments

4.6 / 5
Based on 12 reviews
Reliability of the description
4.7 / 5
Ease of following the route
4.8 / 5
Route interest
4.4 / 5
User 20134356

Overall rating : 5 / 5

Date of your route : Mar 16, 2026
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : No

A lovely walk with varied scenery – highly recommended

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User 25015038

Overall rating : 5 / 5

Date of your route : Aug 18, 2025
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : Yes

Superb hike with varied scenery. A complete change of scenery.
I'm delighted I did it.

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lazzerini
lazzerini

Hello vérowat,

could you tell me more? Do you have a WPT you could give me?

This is so I can see what can be improved.
Thanks

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vérowat
vérowat

Overall rating : 4.3 / 5

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

A splendid and varied route. Highly recommended walk. However, at one point, walkers are advised to take a path that disappears into the forest. It is impossible to find your way back among the blueberries!

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OlivierVR
OlivierVR

Overall rating : 5 / 5

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

Here is a short 3-minute video preview of the beautiful hike we took on 22 January 2023 in the snow.
Click on the link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g1AF_zBj...

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Stéphanie R.
Stéphanie R.

Overall rating : 5 / 5

Date of your route : May 05, 2022
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : No

I did this hike without seeing that it was listed on Visorando, but by following the instructions in the guidebook "Balades de rêve" (see here: https://www.ostbelgien.eu/fr/fiche/hikin... ). The signposting is very easy to follow. However, please note that during periods of drought, which is unfortunately already the case in May 2022, part of the fens may be closed to the public due to the risk of fire: a red flag will be raised.

In this case, do not cross the N67 at point 8, but take the path on your left (without crossing), which runs alongside and up the N67. A little further up, you will find another place to cross the main road, and the path opposite is open. This path will allow you to rejoin the original route.

As for the hike itself, I can only recommend it. It was one of my favourites during my stay in the Fagnes. It offers a wide variety of landscapes and really transports you to another world. The Helle river, which accompanies us for part of the route, is magnificent and still seems very wild. And the fagnes... what can I say... Their rugged beauty, their bareness, their sense of infinity... no words or photos can do them justice.

The twenty kilometres fly by (despite a few hills here and there!) thanks to the varied and stunning landscapes.

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Linsang
Linsang

Overall rating : 4.5 / 5

Date of your route : Sep 06, 2021
Reliability of the description : Not used / Not applicable
Ease of following the route : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : No

A fantastic walk! Superb paths and scenery.

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jcmumu
jcmumu

Overall rating : 4.3 / 5

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

A very beautiful walk starting from the Ternell forest house. Walked in an anti-clockwise direction. The first part is very pleasant and relatively wild, passing through forests accompanied by torrential rivers and numerous streams that sometimes have to be forded. The second part often follows wide forest paths, mostly straight. The landscape remains pleasant but the walk can sometimes be a little monotonous. Entering the moorland section via the duckboards takes you back to a superb natural site.
The walk ends with a climb up a small, steep rocky path. This is the second difficult section of the route, which is otherwise fairly easy.
However, it should be noted that there are also some fairly long asphalted sections, which fortunately are not very busy.
The technical information and GPS route are perfectly complementary.
Please note that in wet weather, some sections may be muddy and/or spongy.
Thank you for this beautiful walk.
Enjoy the hike, everyone!

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claudineD
claudineD

Overall rating : 4.3 / 5

Date of your route : Jan 18, 2021
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good
Very busy route : No

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onverrabien
onverrabien

Overall rating : 4.7 / 5

Date of your route : May 24, 2020
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good
Very busy route : No

Thank you for this very reliable route. The mix of forest, waterways and Fagnes is very pleasant.
I joined the road before point 4 instead of after, because the path didn't seem to stray from the river as indicated. 400 metres less in total. I think I still enjoyed some nice views.
The paths "along the rivers" sometimes stray from them, making them invisible on a few sections between 3 and 4 or 12 and 13: on reflection, it's visible on the map, but when I read it during preparation, I imagined myself at the edge of these waterways the whole way.
We did 20.1 km and not 19.2 (even though we avoided 400 metres and stayed right on the trail the rest of the way: strange).

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LPES
LPES

Overall rating : 4 / 5

Date of your route : Jul 11, 2019
Reliability of the description : Not used / Not applicable
Ease of following the route : Not used / Not applicable
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good

Hello, everyone.
Actually, I didn't realise that the hike was offered by Visorando. So I relied on my Visorando route (using the Visorando app on my smartphone, live) and a printed map downloaded from the website (see below) ... and we got there. The markers (red rectangles) have clearly been removed in some places (or deliberately moved)...

By mistake, I followed the GR that leads to "Petit Bongard" and "Grand Bongard". This is perhaps the most beautiful part of the walk and is well worth the detour. This part of the GR is sublime. I turned back after 45 minutes to rejoin the circuit, but you would need to continue on this GR and find a path to get back to the hike (and, above all, avoid the road section).

The original loop is available at: https://www.ostbelgien.eu/fr/fiche/hikin...

It seems to me that the hike suggested here has been modified slightly.

To conclude, the route of this hike needs to be reviewed. There is potential to make something nice out of it.

Please note that I didn't have the IGN Belgium map, so you'll need to use the OpenStreetMap map.

Enjoy your hike.

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GMonfort
GMonfort

Overall rating : 4.7 / 5

Date of your route : May 08, 2019
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good

I was pleased to find the description of this hike, which largely follows the route marked by red rectangles starting from Ternell. As these markings are clearly no longer maintained and there are no signs at almost any of the junctions, this detailed description is really very useful.
As for the walk itself, it passes through woods and the Fagne in a very wild setting, alongside charming streams. The only downside is that part of the path is on asphalt, which contrasts a little with the wild aspect of the area. Nevertheless, this does not detract from the beauty of the route, which I really enjoyed despite (or perhaps because of) the gloomy weather, which suited the landscapes we passed through.
I would add two small details to the route description:
- at point (3), to rejoin the tarmac road, a Y-junction is quite difficult to see: the path on the right continues straight ahead, fairly flat, while the path on the left climbs quite steeply (you can see a "GR" sign some distance away on a wooden ramp). Both paths lead to the same place, but as the end of the right-hand path is rather confusing and joins the left-hand path by forcing you to pass under the ramp (which is secured with rope at this point), it is better to take the left-hand path directly.
- At point (13), the paths are not very well marked. If you lose them, simply descend to the bottom and turn right to rejoin a path or forest track.

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pascal95
pascal95

Overall rating : 4.3 / 5

Date of your route : May 09, 2018
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★☆☆ Average

I gave it a medium rating because part of the hike, on the way back after the fens, is on tarmac.
To avoid this, you can take the woodland paths, which are still of limited interest but are more "natural".
Otherwise, the first part and the crossing of the fens are very good.

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