About the Malmedy-Spa-Stavelot triangle

A trip for climbers! Sometimes you have to climb for a long time and / or abruptly. The starting point is Hockai (district of Stavelot) which is located at 540 meters above sea level. Hockai also means small hill. Going up and down through a wooded area, you successively reach the impressive Pelzer farm and the Château du Neubois. A little past halfway you will arrive at the Domaine de Bérinzenne, in the heart of the Spa Forest. The 17th century farm houses the Forest Museum (open from 1 March to 15 November). Here you will find information about the area and can take many walks. Attention: during sporting events on the Francorchamps circuit, you can not do this tour. The narrow roads between Ster and Hockai are then very busy because of the traffic diverted to the parking lots of the circuit.

1. Appointment to the church of Hockai (V), district of Stavelot. With the entrance to the church on your right, start in the rue de la Fohalle, direction Café Ardennais. You pedal on a bridge with an old railway track underneath, now a bike path, and leave the road at the Beau-Site café-restaurant-hotel. Turn a little further with the street on the right and continue to follow the paved road. Ignore the road Devant Chêneu on the right and continue cycling between the meadows. After a few houses, you start to go down and you have a beautiful view. Stop worrying about side roads and pass the impressive Peltzer Company (1). You get the best view of this farm when you have already passed it. Then take a look through the iron door. You immediately have an impression of the beautiful garden. A little further, you come to a priority road. Cross it carefully and continue by bike along J. Jongen Avenue. At a crossroads, you go straight and at the fork, you keep left. Immediately after, turn with the paved road to the right (on the left there is an unpaved country road). On this bizarre wink, you used to cross a railroad track. Sart station was nearby. Continue cycling to the first intersection. Turn left and pedal a little further under the highway. Don't worry about secondary and convex roads along the Wayai nameplate. Continue to follow the road until just before a large house with blue and white shutters (2). Turn left onto the road where only local traffic is allowed. You pedal through a forest strip and between meadows and cross the Wayai stream, which flows over the causeway here. It makes sense, because it's a ford, a ford here. For hikers, there is a wooden bridge.
2. Castle of Neubois Don't worry about back roads and keep following the narrow paved road until you reach a wider road. On the other side is a large natural stone house. Follow the road that climbs gently to the left towards Stockay. On the right there is a large restaurant, Delices d'Asie. Don't worry about secondary roads and after a zigzag turn (another old crossing), you'll cross F. Jerome Street. You pass in front of the sign of agglomeration of Nivezé (district of Jalhay). Leave the side streets for what they are and at the T-junction, turn left, direction Spa. Immediately ignore a street on the left and then it becomes careful, because you go down and then it can go fast! Just after the bend and just before the Spa sign, turn left. This is for a large house with farmhouse looks and number 41. The road splits immediately. On the right, choose Avenue du Général Orch. You climb along the edge of the forest to a crossroads. Right in front of you stands the Anglo-Norman style Château du Neubois (3), where the Foyer de Charité (a think tank for Baptists) has found refuge. Turn left and follow Avenue Peltzer de Clermont. You now pedal on a rising asphalt road through a beautiful beech forest. After a rather long and difficult climb, you ignore the road to this other castle, the castle of Haut-Neubois, on the left. You pass the Sauvenière sign, which refers to the river that rises here on the left of the road. Continue cycling to the Liège-Malmédy road. Cross it carefully and continue cycling towards La Gleize. You now cross the Chemin des Fontaines through the Bois des Minières. It keeps climbing. Nature house
3. At the tavern-restaurant Source de Géronstère, behind which is the source of the river of the same name, turn left. You continue to follow the direction La Gleize. Ignore the Creppe road on the right and continue cycling towards La Gleize. At the large ski parking (4) of Thier Rexhons (570 m) you turn left with the road. You will pass in front of the car park of La Maison de la Nature and the Fôret de Bérinzenne. From here, many hiking trails start from the Fagne de Machamps. You can stop there for a pic-at the beautiful picnic area behind the parking lot. On the information boards you can learn a lot about the nature house and nature reserve. But, you have to climb even further until you can take the secondary road to Andrimont on the left. If you leave the forest, you have a nice panorama on your right. You pass in front of the Andrimont agglomeration sign and go down and meander through the center of the village. You can continue to enjoy the beautiful panorama until you return to the forest after the village. At the fork, after a bridge over the Bourgeois stream, take the downhill road on the right, direction Ruy. After all the climbing you've already done, you're now starting a spectacular descent with a few hairpin turns in a row. At the end of the descent you are in Ruy.
4. You don't pedal to Coo, but take the hairpin turn to the left, towards Francorchamps and Neuville. You can read this on an ancient panel (5). First you can go down, and then you have to go back up. Gently at first, then quite firmly. Don't worry about secondary roads, cycle through Neuville and climb. After the Francorchamps sign, pass the cemetery, ignore the Rue du Centre on the right and pass Place Emile Jamar with a school. Then you arrive at the busy Liège-Stavelot road. Turn right. Do not pedal in the centre of Francorchamps, but follow the main road on the left, towards Stavelot. Where the road turns right, at the Francorchamps Racing Hotel, take the road to Ster on the left. On the Place de la Gare, follow the Route du Ster on the right. You can first go down a little, then go back up, first gently, then a little more spicy. Ignore a secondary road on the right and follow the arrow E42. Leave another secondary road on the right and at the intersection do not follow All Directions, but take the road of Rôzî, a narrow road that descends, on the left. At the fishing pond La Pêcherie des Sources de Fagnes, turn right with the road. You pass on a slightly more rugged asphalt road with a lot of pits to the fork. There, you follow the rue du Gros Thier on the right. You climb through a hollow piece of road to a pedestrian crossing with a cross and a bench. Turn left here, rue du Mwêrt Bouhon, a street where only local traffic is allowed. The road sign here is not suspended horizontally, but vertically on the pole. By taking this road, you do not pedal through the center of Ster. At the T-junction, turn right. Immediately turn right, ignore Rue de Clozin, which started at the previous intersection. Here, too, there is a cross around the corner.
5. Now follow the downhill hollow road, direction Ski Alpin. You arrive on another road and follow it on the left, towards the farm of Harse. You pass in front of the sign that indicates the end of the agglomeration of the Ster. At the first fork, keep right and ignore the road to La Hârotte on the left. A little further you cross the Hockai stream and at the next fork you choose left, direction Aachen, Eupen and Hockai. You are now pedaling on the Route des Blanches Pierres. Ignore another secondary road on the left and continue in the direction of Aachen and All Directions. Here, in the middle of the fields, many signs indicate the "big" cities and the E42 because these roads lead to the car parks of the Francorchamps circuit. You pedal under the highway, run with the road on the left and bolt parallel to it. Then turn right and pedal to Hockai. At the fork, where it turns right towards Aachen and Eupen, pedal left until you reach the church