By the coulters in Hillegem

For this tough walk we meet at the village church of Hillegem, part of Herzele. We are at the gateway to the Flemish Ardennes, with its varied landscape of vast coulters, hollow roads, forests and beautiful panoramas. The picturesque Cotthem is also on the program, from where you reach the starting point again along winding church and village roads.

1. Appointment at the village church (V) of Hillegem, borough of Herzele. The Hillegemplein is located near the N46, the provincial road between Aalst and Oudenaarde, and there is ample parking space. Walk into the Diepestraat and ignore the side streets both on the right and left. At the end of the asphalt, go straight on a wide earth road. On the right, a wide coulter immediately opens. The earth road becomes a nice hollow road and at the T-junction you turn left. You will soon be walking through a wild grove full of noisy songbirds. Once out of the forest you can see the church of Oombergen in front of you, on the right a kilometer wide view and on the left the stone hull of a former windmill (1), now converted into a house.
2. Walk straight across the old mill on the right into a narrow path. This brings you to the edge of the field, first along a fence and then between field and forest (it may be that it looks like you have to walk over the field itself because the farmer has plowed the field to the edge of the forest) back to a wide field road. Go straight ahead, ignore the field road on the right and continue straight on a paved road until you reach a busy asphalt road. Cross, 20 m to the right, then to the left and immediately to the left again and after 30 m to the right into the Kachputtenstraat. The asphalt road becomes a paved gravel road and soon an unpaved field road and finally a marshy forest road. Here you walk through a real trouser forest, with the source area of the Kottembeek on the left. Ignore a side road both left and right and walk through a beautiful hollow road up out of the forest. Once out of the forest you can enjoy the wide views again.
3. After another piece of hollow road you come to a single-lane concrete road. Turn right for 20 m and then left. High above the fields, the skylark still chatters here. After 500 m, just before and next to house number 41, take a narrow path on the right, first between the moat and the fence and then in the edge of the field. This road takes you after 250m to Bockstaele, a wider field road. Turn right and then turn left on a single-lane concrete road. The views remain wide and far, but in the background you can hear the busy traffic of the N42. After 400 m you walk straight ahead at the crossroads and another 250 m further, at the fork, turn right into Blareveld.
4. After a good 500 m you walk right at the T-junction into Hauwerzele. Turn left and continue straight on at the crossroads 150 m on a wide field road. Again a beautiful coulter, where you can fully enjoy the courtship flight of the lapwings in the spring. After 800 m you cross the main road and walk straight into Cotthem. On the right you see a typical old chapel of Our Lady of Sorrows (2).
5. Where the asphalt road bends 400 m further to the left, ignore the field road on the right and go straight ahead, into a field road. On the right you have a trouser forest, with a remarkable number of snowdrops in the spring, and on the left several rows of beautiful pollard willows. The road rises considerably and at the top, at the T-junction, you turn left 3 m. On the right in the corner of the field (opposite a flowerbed and information board) and right through the field, a very narrow road leads straight to the church of Hillegem. The road becomes a wider earth road again and 100 m further, at a crossroads of field roads, you go straight on a narrow path (Cotthem walking route), between the fences, with the church still as the focal point. Cross an asphalt road and continue on a tiled path at a Mariakapelletje follow the Cotthem walking route next to the high wall of the school building. The road takes you to the Ledebergstraat, in the village of Hillegem. Right in front of the St. Bartholomew's Church you can use a deserved refreshment in the village inn.