The Stambruges Forest, the Bouillante Spring and Belœil Castle

Park in the car park of the Stambruges Communal Wood, Rue Robert Lestrade.

(S/E) Follow the forest track which, after passing a picnic area on the left, heads into the woods. Ignore the first junction with paths and continue to a crossroads of forest tracks.

(1) Take the path that turns to the right and follow it to a new five-way junction. Turn left and ignore the path with a barrier.

^GR® signposting

Walk past a forest house and leave a path on your right.

(2) After a bend, take the path leading off to the left (signposted ‘Fontaine Bouillante’) and head for the fountain. Stop there for a moment to discover where its name comes from. Join another track at the edge of the woods and turn right. Walk alongside a private pond on the left. Reach a crossroads and turn left to reach the bank of the Blaton-Ath Canal. Turn right, reach a drawbridge, cross it and immediately follow the towpath to the right along the left bank.

Outside the^GR® route

You are now on the RAVel (an acronym for Réseau Autonome des Voies Lentes) of the Dendre and the Blaton-Ath Canal.
Follow it for about 100 m and make a choice:
- either stay on the canal bank – be careful, as the RAVel is sometimes very busy with cyclists and this can be a bit stressful,
- or follow the route of the old railway line. This is the option I am describing here.

(3) Leave the canal to the left and follow a narrow path blocked by numerous roots. First turn left then right to take a dirt track. At the end of this, the track becomes a path that turns right and passes between the walls of an old unloading quay that served the castle’s malt house, joining the towpath route coming from the right.

(4) Join Rue du Bosquet, pass the carved totems adorning the garden of a house and reach a path that branches off to the left at the gable end of No. 4.

(5) This path leads to Rue des Viviers au Bois. Cross carefully and follow it to the right until, at house no. 37, you reach a small cobbled street, Ruelle Mesnage, on the left.

(6) The alley becomes a path. Ignore a path coming from the right and continue to Rue de Favarcq. Follow it to the left.
Take the first street on the right and follow the ditch formed by the Ruisseau la Hunelle until you reach the lane leading into the Grand Parc.

^GR® signposting

(7) Don’t forget to enjoy the view behind you of the Grand Étang and Belœil Castle. Cross a junction of paths, pass through a gate and reach a pond, the Canarderie, which takes its name from the duck hunts that were once organised there. Go round it to reach another forest track heading to the left.

(8) In spring, the lane is filled with the scent of wild garlic lining its edges. Pass a path on the right and take the next one heading left.

Off the^GR® trail

(9) Follow it to the end and take the path which, veering to the right, plunges back into the woods. Ignore all the paths branching off to the left and right, return to the main track and head right for about 100 metres. Watch out for the path leading to the left.

(10) Follow it, cross a wider path and continue straight ahead. After about 180 m, cross a ditch and head left. Cross another wider path and reach a T-junction

(11) Turn right and, at the next junction, continue straight ahead along the path that leads out of the woods, passes in front of the Chapel of Sainte-Apolline and reaches a grassy path. Follow it to the left towards Stambruges.

(12) After passing a street on the right, take care to follow a path sloping diagonally to the left. Leave this quickly to follow a path to the right. You will emerge onto Rue du Rieu Bouillant. Cross carefully and take a new path that runs along the left-hand side of house no. 44. Continue straight ahead at a junction of paths and reach a T-junction. Turn left and join another path that heads off to the right.

(13) Follow it to come out onto Rue du Calvaire. Follow it to the left and, at the end, join a new path. Follow it straight ahead, ignoring the first path that branches off immediately to the left, and you will very quickly reach a crossroads. Turn right to rejoin Rue du Calvaire and a small square decorated with flowerbeds. Cross carefully, reach Rue Bernard Hecquet on the right (no entry sign) and, at the cemetery wall, find a path leading off to the left.

(14) Follow this path which runs alongside the cemetery wall and, via a few steps, joins the towpath of the Blaton-Ath Canal. Follow it to the left and, before the bridge spanning the canal, take the path which climbs up to the left and reach the bridge.

(15) Cross the bridge and follow the cobbled street to the left, which passes at the foot of a wayside cross, to reach the finish point (S/E).

Picnic area at the start of the walk.
Shops and friendly bistros in Belœil and Stambruges.

Visit to the park and Belœil Castle.
Aubechies and its archaeological site.
The Mer de Sable site.