The two spoil heaps from Oignies

This walk, starting from the 9-9bis Mining Centre, will take you across both slag heaps without much difficulty, offering beautiful views of the slag heap range. The walk follows very good wooded paths on the first slag heap of the route. It is advisable to do the walk in the morning. You can extend the walk by crossing the Bois des Hautois, but there are a great many fallen trees.

Details

95829794
Creation:
Last update:
Last review:
  • Walking
    Activity: Walking
  • ↔
    Distance: 6.19 mi
  • ◔
    Average duration: 3h 05 
  • ▲
    Difficulty: Moderate

  • ⚐
    Back to start: Yes
  • ↗
    Ascent: + 305 ft
  • ↘
    Descent: - 308 ft

  • ▲
    Highest point: 233 ft
  • ▼
    Lowest point: 79 ft

Photos

Description of the walk

Start from the 9-9bis Mining Centre.

(S/E) Walk up through the car park with the 9-9bis on your left, then first turn right then left.

(1) First turn right then left at the Fork in the road, then carry on straight ahead, then turn left and follow the stream. At the end, turn right and keep to the right.

(2) At the junction, first turn right then left and carry on straight ahead, staying on the left-hand path to reach the junction near Bois Monsieur Gosse.

(3) Turn right; at the end, take the track on the right and continue straight on until you reach the path leading to the viewpoint.

(4) Turn right to reach the viewpoint.

(5) Turn back to return to the previous junction.

(4) Turn right and carry on straight ahead. At the end of the path, turn right and cross the stream.

(6) Cross the road (at the pedestrian crossing), then first turn right then left, take the first left and carry on straight ahead.

(7) Go through the gate and start climbing the slag heap by heading straight on, then turning sharply right until you reach the viewpoint.

(8) Turn round and head back to the foot of the slag heap.

(7) Turn right and go down the stairs. At the bottom, turn right and walk along the right-hand side of the pond.

(9) After the pond, first turn right then left to see the memorial marking the discovery of the first coal seam.

(10) Turn round at the monument; at the end, turn right, cross the bridge, then turn right, turn right again at the end, and carry on straight ahead.

(11) Turn right at the junction with Rue du1er Mai and go straight on until you reach the roundabout. Cross over to the opposite side and take the first right.

(12) First turn right then left to enter the Cité du Verger. At the end, turn left, then turn right at the end.

(13) Follow the path to the left and continue straight on. Then continue to the left, cross the road and keep to the right to reach the car park (S/E).

Waypoints

  1. S/E : mi 0 - alt. 95 ft - Car park at 9-9bis
  2. 1 : mi 0.16 - alt. 89 ft - Crossroads
  3. 2 : mi 1 - alt. 89 ft - Junction
  4. 3 : mi 1.51 - alt. 102 ft - Bois Monsieur Gosse
  5. 4 : mi 2.45 - alt. 131 ft - Junction. Return to the viewpoint
  6. 5 : mi 2.57 - alt. 233 ft - Viewpoint
  7. 6 : mi 3.07 - alt. 82 ft - Street
  8. 7 : mi 3.68 - alt. 128 ft - Barrier and return to the slag heap
  9. 8 : mi 3.94 - alt. 226 ft - Viewpoint
  10. 9 : mi 4.72 - alt. 89 ft - First turn right then left
  11. 10 : mi 4.79 - alt. 92 ft - Monument commemorating the discovery of coal
  12. 11 : mi 5.3 - alt. 92 ft - Rue du 1er Mai
  13. 12 : mi 5.52 - alt. 92 ft - Entrance to the Cité du Verger
  14. 13 : mi 5.84 - alt. 92 ft - Path
  15. S/E : mi 6.19 - alt. 95 ft - Car park at 9-9bis

Notes

No water source

Take care on the approach to (8): the final few metres are very steep

Worth a visit

9-9bis Mining Centre.

Reviews and comments

4 / 5
Based on 1 review

Reliability of the description
5 / 5
Ease of following the route
5 / 5
Route interest
2 / 5
souchez rando
souchez rando

Hello, thank you for your feedback. In my opinion, you’ve missed a few things in the town, and it’s impossible to extend the first part – I cycled 20 km to try and do my best.

Machine-translated

User 29017592

Overall rating : 4 / 5

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

The whole beginning is really good, but the ending in the city is rather disappointing. If I were to do it again, I’d make the first part longer and take a shortcut at the end.

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.