Kattevennen is a large recreational forest and heath on Genk's northern edge — a landscape typical of the Kempen plateau: flat, pine-scented, with patches of heathland, small pools, and sandy paths running through the trees. It connects to the Bokrijk domain and the wider network of cycling and walking routes through Belgian Limburg.
The landscape is quiet and pleasant rather than dramatic — this is emphatically not mountain country — but it offers a genuine sense of the Kempen environment that shaped the communities that came to mine here. In late summer the heather blooms pink across the open patches; in winter the pine forest is dark and still.
The main draw is cycling: the signed cycling network through Kattevennen connects to Bokrijk, the Cycling Through Water path, and routes toward Hasselt and the wider Limburg cycling network. Maps are available at the Genk tourist office and online. Well suited for a day of unhurried cycling between the forest and the cultural attractions around Bokrijk.