(S) Start from the car park of the Auberge de la Baraque Michel, located halfway between Eupen and Malmedy. Cross the N68 road (take care) and join the path opposite.
(1) Turn right (east) onto the hard-surfaced path, which very quickly becomes a boardwalk and leads approximately 4 kilometres further through a landscape of heathland, marshes and former peat bogs. You follow the River Helle from its source to the small Marie-Anne Libert bridge.
(2) Cross the bridge on the right to climb the slope towards the edge of the forest. Continue along this path, which is soft in places, heading south-southeast, staying close to the forest edge and ignoring the paths branching off to the left.
(3) At a junction of several paths, continue to the right along the woodland for another 100m, then the path bends to the right, moving away from the trees. Follow this path straight on towards the south-west. Reach the edge of the woodland and go completely round the Fagne Wallone to the east to reach a crossroads at the edge of the forest.
(4) Turn left into the woods for 50 metres, then right to join the Route de Botrange (N676). You can easily see the Signal de Botrange, Belgium’s highest point, on the horizon above the hollow of the Fagne Wallone.
Follow this road to the left for about a hundred metres heading south and cross it carefully to reach the Botrange Nature Centre.
(5) Take the path opposite, running alongside the centre. Continue along this forest path for about two kilometres, ignoring the other paths, to reach the N68 road near the Neur Lowé nature reserve.
(6) Cross the road and continue straight ahead on the tarmac path to the Polleur bridge, ignoring the paths to the right and left. It is not uncommon to spot deer in this area, provided, of course, that you remain extremely quiet.
(7) Cross the bridge and, at the first bend to the right of the tarmac path, take the grassy path on your left. You head deeper (north-west) into the forest, which is a mix of conifers and deciduous trees, and, after crossing a small stream, you reach a junction with a straight path which you take to the right for 100m. This is the Vecquée, an ancient Gallic and later Roman road.
(8) Pass in front of the famous Croix des Fiancés, erected in tribute to two young fiancés who died in a snowstorm in January 1871, as well as an old Prussian boundary stone. Continue along the path. It ends with a boardwalk leading to the Fischbach Chapel.
(9) Take the path running alongside the chapel on the right, which joins the N68 road. Turn left to return to the car park and the Auberge de la Baraque Michel, where you’ll find somewhere to eat.

