Han-sur-Lesse geological walk

Parking is available in the square next to the church.

(S/E) With your back to the church, head towards the hiking signs and the sculpture next to them. Take the road that starts behind them. Turn left at the crossroads.

Green Cross signposting

At the end of the road, turn right and follow the Lesse. In the bend, you will see some magnificent lime trees (including the King Baudouin lime tree) and behind them a chapel.

(1) Turn right into Rue des Masures. At the T-junction, turn left. Continue straight ahead at the crossroads. The road becomes a path. Walk alongside the Rouge Croix nature reserve on your right. At the road, continue straight ahead. Turn onto the^first path on your right and walk past a car park.

(2) At the fork, turn right.

(3) At the next fork, climb up to the left onto Tienne del Roche. You will come out at the viewpoint over the plain of the old bed of the Lomme and, to the left, the Rond de Tienne. Go down the stairs, ignore the path on your left and continue downhill. Pass in front of the Grotte d'Éprave then under the rock arch. When you reach the foot of the Tienne, turn left towards the Fontaine Bouillonnante, a resurgence of the Lomme. Ignore the paths leading from the resurgence, retrace your steps and continue along the path running alongside the Lomme. A path returns to your right. The path becomes a track.

(4) At the meadow on your left, look for the metal ladder that allows you to climb over the barbed wire. Climb over it if you want to see the Trou du Rond de Tienne, the resurgence of the Laide Fosse water loss 1.5 km further on. Head diagonally to the right towards the trees blocking the meadow. Between the trees on your right, you will see the scree with "deer tongue" ferns of the resurgence (dry in June 2020). Return to the ladder, cross the barbed wire fence again and continue along the path. Markings end.

No markings

(5) At the road, turn left to rejoin the N86. Cross it carefully and continue along the path opposite. Climb up, passing in front of some houses. At the crossroads (not shown on the OSM map), continue straight ahead. Ignore the next path on your left.

(6) Turn onto the path on your right. Walk straight ahead until you reach the T-junction. Turn left and continue to the road.

Yellow diamond markings

(7) Cross with caution. Turn right towards the viewpoint and enter the State Nature Reserve. Enjoy the view of La Chavée, a former meander of the Lesse. Take the path behind the viewpoint, at the conifer with a branch shaped like a swing. Pass the chicane marking the pedestrian entrance to the reserve. Markings temporarily abandoned.

No markings

At the fence, turn right to enjoy the view from the top of the Serin rock. Follow the fence and turn left at the corner of the fence. Ignore the path on your right and take the next hairpin bend. Descend carefully.

^GR® markings (change to^GRP® planned in the near future)

At the forest path, continue to the right.

(8) At the path on your right, do not turn immediately but continue straight ahead to see the resurgence of the Fontaine Saint Martin. Descend for 150 m and climb the embankment on your left to see the resurgence. Retrace your steps and turn left onto the path.

(8) Now pass at the foot of the Serin rock. Continue along the path between the forest and the meadow.

(9) At the fork (not shown on the map), continue to the left. Then ignore the path on the left. The trail markers disappear for a short while.

No markings

You will come to the start of the Ry de la Planche. Follow it until you reach the road. Cross over and turn right.

^GR® markings (change to^GRP® planned in the near future)

Turn left immediately. Pass in front of the Planche cross. Take the chestnut tree lane.

(10) At the tram tracks, turn left to see the Lesse resurgence. This is also the exit from the Han caves. Back at the tracks, continue left along the tarmac road running alongside them. Follow them to the quay. Turn right into Rue du Grand Hy. Pass in front of the campsite. Ignore the side roads and continue straight on to the church and its nail trees. Return to your car park (S/E).

Church car park: paid parking from 1 May to 31 October: €0.50 per hour in June 2020. Arrive early to easily find a parking space during the cave's opening hours.

Geological booklet available here
At the Éprave resurgence, if flooding makes it impossible to use this small path, you can take an alternative route. To do so, go back up the stairs, return to the foot of the Tienne del Roche hill and take the small path now on your left at (3).

The descent to La Chavée is particularly steep and slippery in wet weather.

A UNESCO Global Geopark is a territorial area with a geological heritage of international importance.

Gradual change to some^GR® markings

Appearance of yellow and red markings on our^GR® de Pays trails.
In the future, the^GR® (all Tours de...) will be marked in the same way, as and when the corresponding guidebook is reissued – or even published for the first time – including the^GR® 577 Tour de la Famenne, which you are following here.

During
Rouge Croix: The plain was home to large Merovingian cemeteries, where 800 tombs dating from the 5th and 7th centuries have been excavated. State-owned nature reserve.

Viewpoint above Tienne del Roche: View of the Rond de Tienne and the old chavée (abandoned meander) of the Lomme/Lhomme.

The Éprave cave: former resurgence of the Lomme/Lhomme. Closed to the public since 1993.

Éprave resurgence: known as the Fontaine Bouillonnante (Bubbling Fountain). The waters that resurface at this point, after a journey of nearly 8 km as the crow flies through limestone, come partly from the Wamme and partly from the Lhomme, which partially infiltrate On and downstream from Jemelle. A resurgence is a place where an underground hydrographic network emerges from the subsoil.

Rond Tienne: in various places, the region is characterised by small hills on flat land, known as 'les Tiennes'. This is the typical landscape of the Calestienne. The Tiennes are the result of several hundred million years of work by the sea, the folding of the earth, extreme cold and global warming.

Exsurgence of the Rond de Tienne: an exsurgence is the outlet for underground flows that come from the infiltration of rainwater or an underground watercourse. Resurgences are a special type of exsurgence. Some of the water in this resurgence comes from the Laide fosse sinkhole located on the heights of Han-sur-Lesse, 1,500 metres away.

Belvedere: one of the most beautiful panoramas in the region, a typical Famenne landscape with the Ardennes horizon in the distance. At your feet lies the 'dry valley' or 'chavée', or more simply the former bed of the Lesse, as well as the dome-shaped wooded massif of Boine, in which the river has carved out the caves of Han. Until 100,000 years ago, the Lesse followed this wide meander before finding an easier underground path, thus creating the Belvaux chasm, where it sinks into the limestone ground of the massif through a vertiginous siphon some 50 metres deep. This is known as 'the loss of the river'. It reappears 2 km further on at the exit of the caves. As the chasm becomes saturated when the water flow exceeds 25,000 litres per second, the river reoccupies its former meander and once again flows around the Boine massif, flooding the surrounding villages. The inhabitants of Han say that 'the water is turning'.

Resurgence of the Fontaine Saint Martin: at the foot of the limestone massif of the belvedere.

Drève des marronniers: This name comes from the Dutch word 'dreef', which means 'alley'. Common in French-speaking Belgium, it only appears in northern France.

Trou de Han: the exit point of the Lesse after a 2.5 km underground journey through the Han caves, which are 8 km long in total.

Linden tree of Saint-Hubert Church: or nail tree is a type of prayer tree found particularly in Belgium (comparable to rag or cloth trees). Its reputation is based on the ancient popular belief that physical ailments (evil spirits), mainly toothache and skin diseases, could be removed from the body through a ritual process and nailed to a tree. The elimination of the evil spirit thus led to healing.

Nearby

Han Caves: 3 stars in the Michelin Green Guide.
Wildlife Reserve: animal park
PréhistoHan: museum