Walk in Val de Poix

Car park at Poix Saint-Hubert station.

No signposts

(S/E) With the station on your right, return to the N808. Turn left and cross over La Lomme. Follow the main road and leave the town. Continue uphill to an intersection.

(1) Turn left towards Arville. Cross the bridge, with a view of the old foundry on your left. After the bridge, continue left until you reach a fork.

(2) Keep right; you will return via the left-hand path. Go uphill and, before the house, turn left. Take the dirt track on the right alongside the meadow. Enter the forest and go uphill until you reach a fork.

(3) Keep to your right. When you return to a wider path, continue straight ahead heading north. Pass a clearing on your right with a view of Arville. Continue straight ahead. At the crossroads, continue straight ahead until you reach a fork.

(4) Turn left. Ignore the fork on your right and descend. Open the gate and close it behind you. Descend the forest path until you reach another wide path.

(5) Turn right. Go up to the intersection at a place called Chapelle du Cheny du Mont. Slightly to your right, you will see the Chapelle Notre-Dame de Bon Secours. With your back to the chapel, take the forest path to the right of the one you came from.

Red cycle signposting: red triangle on two red circles

Walk for 640 m. Ignore the path on your left. Then ignore the path on your right and continue to a wide path on your left.

(6) Turn left and go downhill. Leave the path on your right (not shown on maps). Go downhill to La Lomme and you will see the Rocher Marie Gobaille on your right.

(7) Ignore the footbridge and turn left onto the path. Leave the hairpin bend on the left. Further on, continue through the tunnel under the railway line. Pass the Canal de Sainte-Adeline. Follow the canal. Pass the Louis Zoude hydroelectric power station and continue under the railway line again.

(8) Pass by the Wawin (or Wanwin) stream, following the flow, and cross the small or large ford where the stream crosses the path. On your right, you will see the waterfall of an old dam. Continue under the railway bridge.

(9) Pass by a house, the former Pont à Smuid hydroelectric power station. Follow the canal and pass under the railway line for the last time. Continue along another building, the former Sainte-Adeline hydroelectric power station. A comb used to retain debris and floating wood is still present on the leat.

(10) At the intersection, turn left, cross the bridge and turn right onto the path. Walk for 1.2 km. Ford the river at the old foundry on the other bank. Go through the damaged barrier (January 2021).

(2) Keep to your right and, at the road, turn right. Cross the bridge and continue to the right at the intersection. Walk down the N808 and return to the car park near the station (S/E).

Bench between (3) and (4)
Picnic table: at the chapel after (5), at (7) on the other side of the footbridge
Muddy depending on the weather, so wear sturdy shoes.
Refreshments available in the centre of Poix Saint-Hubert

During

Chapel of Notre-Dame de Bon Secours

Rocher Marie Gobaille: Marie Gobaille, half witch, half horse, was condemned to be burned like all witches during the Inquisition. The witch often retreated to this hill, near the black waters. She transformed herself into a horse and took malicious pleasure in spreading terror among the inhabitants of Smuid and Mirwart. One evening, the mayor of Arville decided to organise an expedition with the inhabitants of Mirwart armed with sticks and the inhabitants of Smuid with their wolves on leashes.
They found Marie Gobaille in this forest, chased her to get rid of her once and for all, and cut off her head with a scythe. Victorious, they paraded the head on a stake through the village of Mirwart. Since then, the inhabitants of Mirwart have called themselves tiès di chfaut (horse's head) and the inhabitants of Smuid les leus (wolves).

La Lomme/Lhomme/L'Homme: a tributary of the Lesse.

Louis Zoude Hydroelectric Power Station: still in operation. First building after the (7)

At (9) Former Pont à Smuid Hydroelectric Power Station (pronounced Smoui): it used to produce paper pulp, then it was converted into a chemical plant and, after the Second World War, into a hydroelectric power station.

At (10) Former Sainte-Adeline Hydroelectric Power Station: Adeline was the wife of Louis Zoude. In the 19th century, it was a paper mill. A "comb" that filtered waste from the canal water is still in place.