This stunning hike in the Hoegne Valley of 23 kilometers combines 3 beautiful walking routes: La Hoegne, Baraque Michel and La Statte. Find all the information you need in this article, including GPX-file and hiking maps.
Details hike in Hoegne Valley
Distance: The total distance for this hike is 22,9 kilometers (loop hike)
Elevation gain: The total incline was 457 meters
Moving time: According to Strava my moving time was 5 hours and 53 minutes (total time was 7h)
Difficulty: I would rate this as an intermediate hike, elevation gain is quite limited and the only difficulty is the distance.
Address start: Roquez 49, 4845 Jalhay, Belgium
Price: Free
Use the pinned location below so you can navigate straight to where the hike starts.
How to get to the parking of the La Hoegne hike?
In order to get to the parking of this hike along the La Hoegne river it is recommended to use your own car. From Brussels it is 1h and 40 minutes driving.
Another possibility is to use public transportation, this would take about 2 hours from Brussels Central station. First you take the train to Verviers, then take a bus to bus stop SART-LEZ-SPA Route de Solwaster and then you will have to walk about 20 minutes. If you know that you will walk another 23 kilometers after this it’s probably better to try to go with your own car.
A cool thing is when just before you arrive at the parking you need to drive through the La Hoegne river. Don’t worry it’s only about 10 cm deep.
Hiking Map and GPX-File
Generally speaking for all hikes, the easiest way is to download a GPX file that you can view on a gps device, a smartphone or smartwatch. It will tell you step-by-step how to walk. It also includes an elevation profile of the hike which can help you to decide if this hike is for you or not.
As this route is a combination of trails around La Hoegne, Baraque Michel and La Statte it’s almost impossible to follow the route with the use of a GPX-viewer. Find below as a free download my recorded GPX:
Download the GPX file right here: Vallee-de-la-Hoegne,-Baraque-Michel-and-La-Statte.gpx
La Hoegne River
The Hoegne river is mountain river in the Belgian Ardennes that flows for about 30 kilometers from 570 m above sealevel before it ends up in the Vesdre river at about 150 meter above sealevel. The source of La Hoegne is somewhere at the highest point in Belgium called Baraque Michel. This highest point is part of the High Fens in Belgium and consist of plains at about 670 meter above sealevel. Most of these plains consist of swamp-like terrain and the source of La Hoegne is somewhere here.
The hike in the Hoegne Valley is a great alternative to the Ninglinspo route. It’s similar but less crowded. Don’t get me wrong, La Hoegne is quite a popular route as well. This route has actually my preference over the one from Ninglingspo. And if you follow the complete route as described in this post you will have lots of quite more desolate spots to fully enjoy nature’s silence.
If you love hiking in Belgium I would like to recommend this article, which is a collection of all my favorite hikes in the Belgian Ardennes: HIKING IN THE ARDENNES OF BELGIUM – THE ULTIMATE GUIDE
Baraque Michel – Highest point in Belgium
Baraque Michel is at 674 meters is the highest point in Belgium. If you climb Signal de Botrange, which is a tower nearby, you reached the absolute highest point of Belgium and the whole Benelux (Belgium, Netherlands and Luxemburg) at 694 meters above sealevel.
There are several rivers that have their source in this area, such as La Hoegne, La Helle and La Gileppe. La Gileppe forms a beautiful dammed lake where you can hike around as well so if you’re staying in the area for several days it’s definitely worth it to check out this article as well: HIKE GILEPPE LAKE IN JALHAY, BELGIUM (15 KM)
During the route described in this article you will walk along Baraque Michel for a while before reaching the Valley of the river called La Statte.
La Statte River
La Statte is a river that flows from the High Fens all the way to the Hoegne river. Where ruisseau des Nutons joins La Statte there’s a beautiful waterfall called Cascade des Nutons or waterfall of the trolls in English. According to Belgian standards this waterfall was quite unique!
My experience hiking Hiking in the Hoegne Valley
After doing the Ninglingspo hike a few months ago I thought it was time to conquer the Hoegne valley this time. The Hoegne walk is normally pretty short (about 10 kilometer) so I started searching for a longer alternative. After some research I found out that you could easily combine the hike in Hoegne valley, Baraque Michel which is the highest plateau of Belgium and then to finish off in style the valley of the river La Statte.
When hiking during wintertime in Belgium it’s important in my opinion to choose a hike that looks pretty in winter as well. For example I would not recommend to do a hike with lots of high viewpoints as most green is gone and the views are less beautifull. Therefore this hike which is mostly within the forest is perfect for this. I bet it looks even better in late spring or summer but winter didn’t dissapoint either.
Immediately upon our arrival we were greeted with the beautiful morning sun shining bright through the trees over the river. We were off for a good start!
For about 4 kilometers we walked upstream along La Hoegne river. Once in a while we had to cross the river but don’t worry there were bridges. Also we passed several small waterfalls such as Cascade de Marie Henriette and Cascade Leopold II. As it was February the water level was higher than in summer so La Hoegne really looked like wild mountain river. While walking along the river we really felt like being in another country. It reminded us a bit of Slovakia which shows that you don’t always have to go far to enjoy some beautiful nature.
Around 4 kilometer walking we left the official La Hoegne route and went direction the highest point of Belgium at Baraque Michel. If you would prefer to keep following the official route you could return on your steps or cross the bridge called Pont du Centenaire and follow the marked trail back to the parking.
For another 4 kilometer we follow La Hoegne to eventually reach the highest plateau in Belgium. The scenery starts changing into more open swamplike fields. This area really represents the High Fens of Belgium.
At around 13 kilometer into the hike we finally reach Baraque Michel. Congratulations you just sumitted the highest peak of Belgium! You’ll notice that this area is quite touristy but the advantage is that there’s a bar and restaurant so you could grab lunch there. We had our packed lunch on a bench next to the not so pretty church.
For the next few kilometers you walk out in the open fields. Usually it’s not very hard to find the correct route except for once where we literally had to walk through a swampy field. Don’t worry it doesn’t last for long.
Around 15 kilometers you will reach the valley of La Statte. In all honesty I had never heard of this river before so I didn’ really know what to expect but let me tell you it’s one of Belgium’s hidden gems. We were blessed with beautiful weather that day which surrely added to the magic of the scenery. Similar to La Hoegne there are several cascades and small waterfalls in La Statte river.
Another interesting sight was Rocher de Bilisse which is a huge 60 m high rock partially covered in a brownish color which apparently used to serve as pigment to paint clothes and eggs (for Easter).
After doing quite some hikes in Belgium I could argue that the hike in Hoegne Valley is one of my favorites so far. Definitely in my top 3 of most beautiful hikes in Belgium.
Let me know in the comments or through my Instagram if you enjoyed this hike!