Top 20 Natural Monuments around Borgloon

At the highest point of Helshoven, you can now enjoy a breathtaking view over the Haspengouw landscape. Artist Frits Jeuris has created a unique work of art from dozens of felled fruit trees from the area. “Helsh(ea)ven”, a wooden work of art consisting of 90 standard cherry trees, each fifty years old, was hit by the cherry plague virus at the end of 2016, a contagious plant disease that causes small fruits on cherries. Now the felled trees are getting a second life. The work of art symbolizes the dynamic landscape of Haspengouw.

With luck, spot a deer?!

Very relaxing, beautiful well-maintained paths.

Experience the divine feeling of floating here...

Here, at the gallows, you are at the highest point in Helshoven. The artwork 'Helsh(ea)ven' by Frits Jeuris, known to most as the 'floating chapel', invites you to enjoy that landscape and the work itself. It is made from cherry tree wood. At the end of 2016, the 50-year-old high-stemmed trees in Helshoven had to be cut down due to a viral disease, Little Cherry, which causes tasteless cherries. The gallows represents death. Dead trees. And the dead person. And then there are the trees that are given a second life in the artwork, the floating chapel. An end, a beginning, a view, between heaven and Helshoven, inviting reflection, looking and of course what the work is best known for: that strange image of a chapel that seems to float.

Thanks to various valuable vegetation, hikers will definitely find something to their liking in this nature reserve. But this stream valley is also the perfect place for bird watching. Moreover, from the lookout tower you have a view over a beautiful part of the Herkwinning area. The cross-pollination between natural development and good nature management ensures that this is a diverse and valuable piece of greenery.

Since 1974, the province of (Flemish) Brabant has owned the 120 hectare Vinne. In 2000 it was decided to transform the area into a lake again. Work started in 2004; the poplars were cleared and the groundwater level rose because drainage was largely stopped. The entire area is ideal for migratory birds. Immovable Heritage Inventory 2024: Het Vinne, https://id.erfgoed.net/erfgoedobjecten/300182

There are two theories for the formation of the great depression that is Vinne. According to the first theory, which was accepted until the 1960s, the formation must be located at the end of the last ice age. Initially, a side valley of the latter lay at the location of the current outlet of the Vinne to the (Kleine) Gete. The predecessors of the current Vinnebeek and the Sint-Odulphusbeek flowed into this small side valley. The Gete Valley was lower then than it is now. Due to the erosion of the Landenian sand, the depression of the Vinne was gradually formed. Afterwards, the valleys of central Belgium filled up with a thick layer of peat. This also gradually prevented the outflow of water from the Vinnedepression. During high tide, the water of the Kleine Gete could now flow into the depression. The sediment carried by this current was deposited where the current was slowed down by the stagnant Vinne water. In this way, a fan-shaped elevation was created at the location where the Vinnehoeve was later built. According to the second theory (Mullenders et al., 1969), the depression would be a periglacial phenomenon, more specifically a pingo. At this location the groundwater came close to the ground surface where it could freeze. This mass of ice expanded and pushed the ground upward. Due to the growth of this ice lens, the resulting hill grew and in warmer times the superficial material was washed away with melt water so that the relief was strengthened. When a definitive improvement in the climate occurred, the ice dome could melt away and deposit erosion material laterally. This created a depression in situ with high walls of erosion material all around. However, the large dimensions of this depression are difficult to reconcile with this history. Immovable Heritage Inventory 2024: Het Vinne, https://id.erfgoed.net/erfgoedobjecten/300182