Tour 23: 'A day in the tundra' Ternell – hiking in East Belgium

A very nice walk. Has everything: forest, ridges with root paths. The river Helle often in the background. Some boardwalks and of course the peat. There are also a number of cycle paths that we walk but that does not matter. Completely surrounded by nature.

The pleasure tour 23 starts from Haus Ternell and leads from there along the Ternellbach into the valley of the Hill. I almost missed the path along the creek and followed the road a little further before I noticed the wrong route and luckily turned around, otherwise I would have missed a wonderful path down to the hill. Along the wilden hill, on a forest path, you continue to the Herzogen Hügel, which you reach shortly after crossing the Spohrbach. A short time after leaving the Herzogen Hügel behind, the subsoil unfortunately changes to road surface. So it goes uphill on asphalt along the Miesbach, over again to the Spohrbach and from there on towards Brackvenn. While there was still no wind in the valley, an icy wind was already picking up in the Miesbachtal, which also brought light snowdrifts with it. Frozen from the wind and annoyed by the asphalt, I briefly considered taking a shortcut across the Brackvenn via the footbridges, but decided against it, as the moorland landscape certainly offers even less protection from the wind. So it went around the Brackvenn, partly over the beautiful wooden footbridges, and further past the Kutenhard Venn down to the Getzbach, from where it leads steeply back to Haus Ternell. Overall, I liked the pleasure tour, varied landscape with its wild valleys and the open expanses of the High Fens. The downside was the high percentage of asphalt, which made up a good 1/3 of the tour. However, there were also great and sometimes quite demanding paths. [Unfortunately, Komoot causes problems again when deleting photos, so that there are sometimes duplications or "empty" pictures.]

This was the last tour in 2024 for me. I drove to the High Fens to walk over some of the famous wooden walkways. Early in the morning it was really cold, the trees were slightly powdered white. Around midday I arrived at the highest part of the circular tour, the raised moor with the wooden walkways. At that very moment the sun had fought its way through the blanket of fog and it quickly became a little warmer. First I could hear the small streams babbling next to the paths, then the frost that had previously stuck to the branches fell from the trees. It was so beautiful! I will definitely come here again.

"In the peat bogs we end up in another world, the parts of the north, the tundra and the heath." (Pleasure walks Ostbelgien) Beautiful piece of nature, you will not come across a house. A heavy descent and slope!

After six years in Cologne, this was my first time in the High Fens and I don't know why I waited so long! The hike is from the ostbelgien.eu site: https://www.ostbelgien.eu/de/fiche/hiking/gnustour-23-ternell Super nice hike and very varied with moorland, but also beautiful forests and river valleys. You orientate yourself at junctions, hike by numbers 🤓 We only deviated in one place to see more of the moor and the boardwalks. Towards the end of the descent to Getzbach and the ascent afterwards, the paths were very washed out and really alpine. If you are sure-footed, you can still walk a long way.

Once again blown away by "Hill" and "Venn".... The full description of today's tour from Haus Ternell can be found here: https://www.ostbelgien.eu/de/fiche/hiking/genusstour-23-ternell I only changed the tour slightly and went a little further into the Brackvenn, which largely avoids the tour template.... It was fantastic again to hike past the babbling Hill and enjoy the peace of the Venn. Only the horseflies didn't leave me alone today. To compensate for that, I had a delicious beer in the beer garden at Haus Ternell at the end. With that in mind, cheers to you and have a nice weekend. #markusSupertramp

The varied tour with beautiful passages e.g. along the Hill and through the Brackvenn starts at the Ternel nature center. Here you can also stop at the restaurant after the hike, which is quite strenuous due to the length. https://www.ternell.be/ More about this and other "pleasure tours" can be found here: https://www.ostbelgien.eu/de/wandern/alle-wandern?hik%5BhikingO%5D=1

Second day of our Eifel weekend. Even more sun today. If you immediately think of the High Fens as a raised bog with its wooden walkways, you're not wrong, but the region has much more to offer. Idyllic stream valleys and conifers, almost like those in the South of France, are just as impressive as birch groves and heathlands. The highlight was the paths on wooden walkways through the Brackfenn. Unfortunately, dogs are not allowed here, even on a leash. Christian and Lotte had to take a different route. North of the road, at about km 12, there is a section where the wooden walkways are being replaced. Therefore, this path is officially closed at the moment. Please note. This tour was also beautiful and varied. Parking is free at Haus Ternell. The final stop was difficult, as it was completely overcrowded with stressed and unfriendly staff. But that didn't spoil the day. Thanks to @Chasn41 for helping me find this tour from December 24.