Nokere is located between Kruishoutem and Waregem and is one of the most beautiful villages in the Flemish Ardennes. The village square of Nokere, with its typical white houses, is a real gem. 'Nokereberg' is the official boundary between Low and Middle Belgium. During this walk, we stroll along the nature reserve Kordaalbos and the castles of Nokere, with splendid castle parks, ponds, and ramparts. From March onwards, it can sometimes be busy and difficult to access due to the many cycling races.

Route description

We start at the public parking lot behind the church at Hovebroekweg 1 in Nokere. We return to the front of the church, descend the Nokeredorpweg, and take the second street on the right, Wortegemstraat. Here, it goes quite uphill. At the crossroads, we turn left onto Mottestraat, crossing the Anzegemsesteenweg. Be careful, we step onto the unpaved road to the right of the house, Gersstraat. Here we already have a beautiful panorama of the Scheldt valley. We come back onto paved ground and turn right where we cross the Anzegemsesteenweg again. We are now on Gapaardstraat, and we continue left into Wortegemstraat, which leads onto Kruishoutemseweg.

Where the road bends to the left, in front of the mill, we take the unpaved road to the right. Stop for a moment and enjoy the vast panorama over the Scheldt valley: a view from Ghent to Kluisbergen with many landmarks, such as the KBC tower in Ghent, the radar of Semmerzake, the church of Oudenaarde, the church of Nukerke, and the Hotondmolen.

At the end of the paved road, we take a right onto Kleistraat. Follow this road with a beautiful descent to Turkestraat. We turn left here and walk straight to the chapel. Here we walk straight onto Vijverdamstraat. At the ponds on the right, we notice the beautiful Casier castle, and just further along, we arrive at the entrance of the castle, and just beyond it, we turn right onto the unpaved road. This ascends sharply, and a bit further, we have the new castle Bonneval on our left, now clearly visible without leaves on the trees.

Upon reaching the top, we arrive at Waregemstraat with the football field on the right. Here, take a moment to look left for the panorama over Waregem and the Leie valley. We continue right towards Nokere. At the next intersection, we turn left into Holstraat. We descend this and once at the bottom, just past the farm, we take the merry-go-round for Kordaalpad to the right. We follow the walking path and pass the most beautiful spot in Kruishoutem, chosen by Pasar Kruishoutem. At the next merry-go-round, we climb through the meadow up and turn left; around the corner of the meadow, we turn right: here lie concrete slabs from the path. Once at the top, you can enjoy a beautiful view of the Leie valley again. A bit further at the tree, we go right through the entrance of the meadow. Here we are on Kordaalstraat, initially unpaved, then asphalt. This turns left and leads to Lindeknokstraat. We turn right here, and after a wide bend, we go straight to Waregemstraat (concrete path).

Here we turn left, past a renovated farm to the next house, where we cross the road and take the driveway to house number 13. Where the driveway goes left, we continue straight onto the path and a little further, we return to the parking lot at the church of Nokere.