Vielsalm : Region of Wood, Stone and Water

"If you love your geology, the region of Vielsalm offers a magnificent and varied natural landscape: the ’Fagnes’ of the ‘Tailles plateau’, the ’Grand Bois de Bêchefa’, the marshes of ’Commanster’, the splendid view of the ’Bec du Corbeau’, the ’Lac des Doyards’ and the wide valleys of ’Grand-Halleux’ and ’Petit-Their’ to name a few. In its 23 villages and hamlets, you will discover buildings that highlight the very best of nature’s own materials: schist, arkose and slate.
Right at the start of this hiking route, there’s multitude of diverse landscapes to explore. Initially you’ll find yourself slate quarries of ’Cahay’. Throughout the walk, you’ll then notice roofs on the Ardennes houses are pretty much all made of slate schist. Window and doorframes are often made from phyllade. And when the rock didn’t have a beautiful laminate to make slates, it was used as a building stone.
From there onwards you will enter the woods to observe the valley below as you walk along the ’Beche’ stream. You’ll then notice a curious line of mounds. These piles of stones are from the gold mining work (in search for gold leaf) that was once carried out in the region.
Dive into the heart of the ’Haute Ardenne’...
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