Fietsen door de bomen in Limburg | Belgium
“Fietsen door de bomen” or “Cycling through the Trees” in Bosland National Park is a unique cycling experience in Belgium where you cycle between the trees up to ten meters high as of 2019. Via a double circle, you cycle between the treetops becoming one with the forest.
Check out my Instagram page for more photos and videos!
Fietsen door de bomen (Cycling through the trees) in Bosland
In the region of Bosland, you have a total of 143 km of regular cycling routes, 178 km of hiking trails, and many more mountain bike routes and horse riding routes. A large domain with various possibilities to enjoy all this natural beauty!
Cycling through the trees is one of the attractions that you can enjoy and admire in Bosland. When you cycle through Bosland, you can make a beautiful route using the provided cycling nodes. At one of them, node 272, you come to a double circle that gradually takes you up to 10 meters high, between the treetops: “Fietsen door de bomen”. Once at the top, you get a phenomenal view of the treetops and the surroundings.
Fun Fact: The path is also accessible for walkers and joggers.
Fun Fact: The Corten steel pillars of the structure symbolize the straight trunks of the fir trees of the forest it’s located. The forest of “Fietsen door de bomen” (the Pijnven nature reserve) consists of coniferous trees, planted to produce wood for the mining industry in the region. As the mines were closed, the trees were never felled. Limburg is now entailing a woodland management plan; giving smaller indigenous trees at the lower levels of the forest more space and light for them to grow and to create a balanced and healthy forest with small, medium-sized, and tall trees.
Tip: The bicycle bridge is 700 meters long and has a diameter of 100 meters. So not quite a route on its own, better to put it in a larger route!
Where is ‘Cycling through the Trees’ in Bosland National Park?
“Cycling through the Trees” is located at node 272 of the cycle node network in the Pijnven nature reserve, which is part of Bosland National Park. The exact GPS coordinates of this cycling node are 51.1616187, 5.3105925.
Where to start?
Since Bosland can be found in various municipalities, you can start your tour from all those municipalities or cities. Our tour started at Fietsboetiek in Hechtel-Eksel as we rented our bikes there (and where we could also park our car).
We did the 53km tour even though it became 60km as we missed a cycling node. The cycling nodes are: 256 – 254 – 253 – 229 – 224 – 260 – 267 – 553 – 552 – 264 – 255 – 272 – 257. This tour lasts +- 5.5 hours depending on your stops. We had a lunch break, ice cream break and multiple photo stops on this route of 5.5 hrs.
Another tour you can do is one of 40km. The cycling nodes are: 256- 254- 255- 272– 257- 258- 515- 516- 517- 05- 248- 247- 256- 257. This tour lasts +- 4 hours depending on your stops.
Fun Fact: There are more than 60 cycling tours through Bosland. Try to find one that suits your distance! 10, 20, 40, 60km options or more!
If you come by car, you can leave it at these car parks in Hechtel-Eksel:
- Parking Fietsen door de Bomen: Kiefhoekstraat 16
- Parking De Schans: Schansplein (at cycling node 515)
- Parking De Hoef, Lupinestraat (at cycling node 516)
- Parking Sporthal, Dennenstraat 8 (between cycling nodes 256 and 257)
Don’t park your car on the side of the road!
Renting bikes
If you don’t want to bring your bike, you can rent one. We reserved ours at the “Fietsboetiek” and parked our car there. Do rent your bikes in advance and pick them up on the day you want to come. We rented one electric bike and one normal bike. The “Fietsboetiek” is located between cycle nodes 257 and 256.
Fun Fact: We also received a bike bag to attach to our bike and a repair kit (just in case). If you have a problem on the way, you can always call their breakdown service.
Fun Fact: There is also a Delhaize next to it, handy for your picnic snacks 😉
By purchasing through my links, you support Life of Passion at no additional cost. Thank you for your support. ♥️
Book a Bus/Train/Transfer via 12Go
Get your travel equipment via Amazon
Book Tours & Attractions via GetYourGuide
Get your travel equipment via Bol.com (Belgium/Netherlands)
Life of a Passion
2 Comments
Jeremy Passchyn
Fietsen door de bomen is only one of the highlights on the cycling route. The nature is amazing and offers also possibility for mountainbikes! You also pass different cozy villages, small bridges and you can bike along the water canal. A must do for everybody visiting Limburg.
Life of a Passion
Thanks for your review on Fietsen door de bomen, Jeremy! 👏