Ninglinspo, The mountain river of Belgian rivers

A gem of size and unique to Belgium! The Ninglinspo, not a river from the Italian Dolomites, but a unique mountain stream in the Liège Ardennes. Discover a beautiful piece of nature over 7 km near Aywaille & Nonceveux and bundle this adventurous trip with a safari in 'Le Monde, Sauvage', the caves of Remouchamps or relax by the Ourthe in 'Les Fonds de Quarreux'.

Signposted walk Ninglinspo on the Ninglinspo website or OVA Tourism

Sedoz, a village near Nonceveux in the province of Liège and where for me personally a 'golden oldie' is located. The valley of Ninlingpo or a unique mountain stream that was our scene for downhill biking about ten years ago, in preparation for our mountain trips in the Alps, Dolomites, or Vosges. Yes, you heard that right! A rocky mountain environment traversed by a challenging trail with bridges, river crossings, technical and rocky paths at the edge of this beautiful mountain stream.

Meanwhile, the recreation policy in Walloon nature reserves has also been tightened, and you can only explore this valley (partially) on foot. Fifteen years later, this beautiful valley has become much more well-known, and during some weekends it can get quite busy. Especially during the corona lockdowns when walking & cycling were the only possible passions we were allowed to pursue. Now significantly calmer, it remains a 'Belgian Pearl' that we definitely want to introduce or let rediscover to our followers of Wandelen-in-België.be...

We start at the Ninglinspo parking near the taverne restaurant Ninglinspo, where you can choose from 2 marked walks - the short one of 6 km with Ninglinspo or the long one of 15 km with Ninglinspo and the Chefna valley. We create our own variant of 7 km with a piece of rocks that is not included in the fixed routes. Moreover, there are currently closed areas, so that nature can recover again - especially the salamanders of this valley.

We start at the confluence of the Ninlingspo and the Amblève, where we follow the Ninlingspo upstream. The last 3 kilometers of this tributary of the Amblève has a drop of about 250m - which means an average of 8% making for a beautiful environment. However, its name is thanks to a misnomer by a French cartographer in 1876, who confused this river with a nearby field. This river was still called 'Doulneux' until 1876, but the Ninglinspo near Aywaille (and not Hawaii) sounds a bit more exotic and appealing to me.

The adventure begins already after a few dozen meters when we cross 'Le Vieux Chera', a tributary of the Ninglinspo. After 500m we reach the highest waterfall of the Ninglinspo, namely Cascade de Chaudière - named after the eponymous tributary Chaudière or 'kettle'. At the foot of this 10m high waterfall is Bain de la Chaudière or 'the bath of the kettle', where you can take a swim after braving the cold water.

Bain de la Chaudière is not the only natural bath where you can refresh yourself on a warm summer day. Along the way you can also find some natural baths like Bain de Naïades or 'Bath of the Water Nymphs', Bain D'Hermes or the Hermes bath, Bain de la Loutre or 'Bath of the Otter'. A series of nice paths with rocks and ropes to deeper canyons or gorges bring you higher towards the source. We also encounter massive boulders like Grande Pierre, Petit Chaos, Grand Ile, Petite Ile, Les Trois Ilots, Pierre Mondale & Grand chaos, where you stop to consider the power of water and how these boulders could end up here.

After about 19 bridges, we arrive at a beautiful spot and certainly my favorite - Bains Du Cerf or 'Deer Bath' - where the Ninglinspo is formed by Ruisseau Du Hornay & Ruisseau Des Blanches Pierres or 'mountain stream of the white stones'. A beautiful pool with baby salamanders or the last stage of the salamander larva. We decide to spend our midday break here, at this natural slide in a look-alike jungle setting.

After enjoying some extra vitamin and this beautiful piece of nature, we take a wooden staircase next to the slide of Ruisseau Des Blanches Pierres to climb to Bain de Diane or 'Bath of Diana' and then a larger staircase to reach Bain de Venus or 'Bath of Venus'. From here we take a small detour to make a loop back to Ruisseau Des Blanches Pierres via Ruisseau du Hornay.

For the return trip, we choose a slightly wider path towards the observation hut Drouet, which offers a beautiful view over the wooded Ninglinspo valley and the Rocks of Crahay. It is also these rocks of Crahay that form our last destination before descending to the parking lot. A rock at a height of 280m, which formed the coast here in the Ardennes half a billion years ago. A challenging path takes us through this rock formation 15 meters high, named after the director of Water and Forests. He was responsible for the protection of the Ninglinspo site, which he managed to protect since 1947 and which has now grown into Walloon natural heritage.

Thanks to Mr. JN Crahay for this beautiful nature area that we were allowed to explore on a very successful hike. Just a winding descent down until this lovely path brings us back to the start of the Ninglinspo walk.