The best walks and hikes around As

Very beautiful panoramic view, the ascent is worth it.

The Stiemerbeek valley contains marshy thickets, with a number of herbs. Prominently present are the yellow loosestrife, the purple loosestrife and the meadowsweet. Hoverflies and longhorn beetles can be seen when they seek nectar on the flower heads of the giant hogweed and the angelica. Furthermore, various species of butterflies, dragonflies, ladybirds and amphibians can be found. The Stiemerbeek flows along the edge of the Kempen Plateau and is quite deeply incised there. Springs can be found in the sloping banks. Although the stream has been straightened, the plots along the stream represent high natural values. The Stiemerbeek valley forms a connecting link between the Bosbeek and the nature reserve De Maten.

The Klaverberg is a largely wooded sand dune and also the name of the surrounding nature reserve on the border of the Belgian municipalities of As, Genk and Oudsbergen. It borders the Opglabbekerzavel heathland and other wooded nature areas. The area is named after the cloverleaf-shaped drifting dunes, which form a predominantly wooded dune ridge over a length of approximately 1.7 kilometers. The sand dunes probably arose as a result of the wind-blown transport of sand that was exposed due to overgrazing and too frequent turf stripping of southwestern heathlands. Klaverberg on an 18th-century Ferraris map The Klaverberg is overshadowed by the remediated spoil tip of the former Waterschei coal mine, with a top up to 155 meters above sea level. These most striking landscape witnesses of the mining past cover a part of the dunes.

The mine spoil heap or 'stone mountain' on the Klaverberg is one of the silent witnesses to Limburg's glorious industrial past. What miners brought up from the deep underground were raw coals. Only half of the volume consisted of real coal, the rest was mine stone. These were thrown onto a 'waste heap', although 'heap' is a relative concept. The mine spoil heap on the Klaverberg is 165 meters high. At the top, you have a phenomenal view of the surroundings. What was once a waste mountain has now become a nature reserve. The European Union even designated this spoil heap and its surroundings as a habitat directive area.

Thor Central is a powerfully impressive industrial building that was protected as heritage after the closure of the mines. As part of the search for a meaningful function for the Waterschei mining site and the option to develop the site into a technology park, the assignment to give this beautiful building a new future was also included. Thor Central is the beating heart of the Thor Park site. Besides the Food Plaza with restaurant Partaasch and brasserie Lampada, the building mainly has a business function, with meeting rooms, an auditorium, a central reception, and even a daycare center. Events and exhibitions are regularly held here.

Station As is a former railway station on lines 21A (Hasselt-As) and 21B (As-Eisden). The station building now houses a restaurant and the Kolenspoorvereniging (Coal Railway Association) uses it for the operation of the tourist railway line Waterschei-As-Eisden. Station As is also one of the gateways to Hoge Kempen National Park and has an observation tower.

It is likely to overflow and flood the trail

A beautiful tribute to nature😍