Hoge Kempen National Park

Hoge Kempen National Park is Flanders' first and only national park, a surprising expanse of heathland, pine forest, and drifting sand dunes in the middle of the heavily urbanised Limburg province. The park covers around 5,700 hectares across several municipalities, with Maasmechelen holding a significant portion of it. The contrast with the surrounding industrial and suburban landscape is striking — you step off a bus and within minutes you are in open heath with skylarks overhead.

The park has around 200 kilometres of marked trails for walking and mountain biking, ranging from short loops to full day routes that cross the entire park. The heather blooms purple in late summer, typically August, when the landscape is at its most spectacular. Deer, wild boar, smooth snakes, and sand lizards all live here. The park operates several Basecamp entry points with parking, information, and café facilities — the one at Mechelse Heide is a good starting point for Maasmechelen visitors.

things to do sight
A story
Hoge Kempen is Flanders' only national park, established in 2006 on land that was largely industrial just decades earlier. The heathlands here were shaped by centuries of cutting and grazing; when that stopped, pines invaded. Today park managers use grazing herds and controlled burns to keep the open heathland alive — one of the rarest habitats in western Europe.