Valley of the Mangelbeek

Here you cross the Mangelbeek valley. This stream has its source on the 'Schietveld van Houthalen-Helchteren' (military domain). The Mangelbeek is located in a European protected area, because of its particularly beautiful alder forests.

Behind the fields is the shooting range Houthalen-Helchteren, also called the Pampa Range. This firing range is used by all NATO partners. It is a training ground for fighter planes.

Also during WW1, this open heathland was a training ground for pilots. The pilots took off with their planes in As and came here to shoot at targets. The shooting range was 7 x 14 km in size, much larger than that of today. There were 17 targets on the site, including trenches with wooden soldiers and wooden planes scattered around the site. The wooden planes were oriented with their snouts in the direction of Asch Airfield, so that the pilots knew in which direction they had to fly back.

Due to military use from the past to the present, a large heath area has been preserved.

Agentschap voor Natuur en Bos