Pure nature in Bolderberg

Bolderberg is a borough of Heusden-Zolder where you can - even within the scope of a walk - get a lot of impressions. The common thread is the Kempen as we know it best: coniferous forest. Along the beautiful half-timbered houses of the Park Bovy you first look for the bank of the Albert Canal. Then you catch a glimpse of the Zolder car circuit. Then you climb to De Kluis, at the highest point of the Bolderberg. In the last part you will meet a piece of heather and the graceful castle of Terlamen. If this is not all the beauty of the Limburg Campine in a nutshell!

1. The starting point is the entrance to the municipal park Bovy, Galgeneinde in Bolderberg, a borough of Heusden-Zolder. Cross the courtyard with its beautiful half-timbered houses. Step over the bridge to the left and from here you follow the orange sphere. At the next intersection go straight ahead and at the bank turn right. You will arrive on a beautiful boardwalk (with handrail) through the ponds. On the cross road where the orange sphere points to the left, turn right and you will be back on the public road (Galgeneinde). You choose left and you walk for a while through this quiet street, until just before the bend. There you walk straight ahead, into the Elzerikstraat (actually only a dirt road) and follow it until you reach the canal. Turn right here and don't let yourself be driven off your socks by passing cycling tourists. The view of the industrial area on the other side is not much soup, so turn right at the cycle route junction and you are back in Galgeneinde.
2. Take the first street on the left and at the end of that slightly rising Rainbow Avenue you will be rewarded with a view of the Zolder car circuit. You follow the road that is now called Observatory to the right, then you go up to the left until you reach the Herderspad (actually a normal street). Here it is nice to walk with the car circuit on your left and the nature reserve Galgenberg on your right. Almost at the end of this street, just past the campsite, turn right into a narrow forest path (indicated by white-green signs). This brings you to the Galgenberg state forest, which is a rich ecological area, where both conifers and deciduous trees thrive. At the fork you go left up the stairs and at the top you continue to follow the main path through this protected nature reserve until you reach the official entrance and exit. Walk straight ahead and you are back at the starting point. Hunger? Thirst? Here you can do something about it.
3. And now on the way to De Kluis, high on the Bolderberg, a witness hill of iron sandstone. For this you have to cross the busy Sint-Jobstraat at the roundabout. This way you get to the Vrunstraat where you pass the information office and then immediately take the first street on the left. This is the Kluisstraat and you keep following it. You walk past a school, a football field and cupboards of houses. Hotel Soete Wey leaves you behind and then you are back in the forest. At an information column (Star spot) many hiking trails come together, but you continue to follow the paved road (right, so). From here to the vault, the yellow hexagon shows you the way.
4. Breathe in the healthy forest air and walk straight ahead at the next two forest path intersections until you reach a triangular square where a shelf serves as a sofa. Here you go left and further left again, to De Kluis. It's a bit of a step up because this long, straight path rises considerably. But your effort will be rewarded when you get to the top of the Bolderberg. De Kluis, a hermitage with Maria chapel, was beautifully restored. The house is inhabited and the gardens around it are laid out so that they become an oasis of peace and meditation for the walker. Fifty years ago, a hermit still lived there. Walk on and then you can enjoy the beautiful view of the white castle of Terlamen and the large pond. It's best to sit down for a while. Afterwards, take the path on the right and, tripping over tree roots, descend the steep slope.
5. You pass an old well and below, on the wide dirt road, you turn left and at a bench of the Stichting Limburgs Landschap 'With us you are good' you have a beautiful view of the castle and the pond. Nearby, at an information board about the Wet Heath, turn left into the path, where you will be welcomed. This way you end up on a wide, soft dirt road that you keep following, past the large memorial sign of Gust Claes and another bench 'where you sit well' until you reach a fork. Follow to the right and turn a little further to the left. You follow the path to house number 42 and there you take the descending gravel road on the left. You will arrive at hotel Soete Wey again. Follow the Kluisstraat to the right and then take the first side street on the right, the Lambert Hoelenstraat until the (closed) hotel "De Kluis".
6. Before the hotel, turn left, cross the busy Sint-Jobstraat and go back to the right. You are now back on the walk with the orange orbs that guide you back to the starting point. You take the narrow forest path on the left and then you disappear again into the beautiful Gallows Forest. Follow the path and turn left. You walk through a piece of beautiful lane and at the first forest path intersection you turn left. At the T again turn left, continue straight there and you are back at the starting point.