The Millennium Tower and La Fange de l’Abîme

A 10 km circular walk starting from the Millennium Tower near Gedinne and visiting La Fange de l’Abîme nature reserve.

For this walk, you’ll need to travel down to the south of Namur province to Gedinne – and then beyond it. You’ll end up just a stone’s throw from the French border. A car is virtually essential. You could take the train to Gedinne but then you’ll need to walk at least 8 km (and then back) to join this walk.

Starting point is the Millennium Tower (Tour du Millénaire). There’s plenty of parking space nearby. Erected on the Croix-Scaille plateau, the tower is a rather spectacular 60-metre high construction in the shape of an hourglass. At 503 metres above sea level, the tower marks the highest point in the province of Namur and the fifth highest in Belgium. The tower is open all year round except during hunting periods in this area or during bad weather (or if the access road is reserved for cross-country skiing). You can climb the stairs to three observation platforms at 15, 30 and 45 meters. At the top you get a wonderful views of the surrounding countryside which you can identify using the orientation table.

Starting from the Millennium Tower you can walk in all directions and distances. Here I describe a 10 km circular walk which takes in La Fange de l’Abîme nature reserve.

Below is the map of the route which you can click to enlarge and also download as a PDF. The GPX track is available from my RouteYou page.

For this post and hopefully many more in the future I am delighted to welcome the cooperation and input of a fellow Discoverer of Belgium: Herman Vandecauter. Herman is a retired professional musician (also check him out on YouTube) and a keen walker and photographer. Herman has taken all the photos on this post.

Herman’s impressions of the walk

“I enjoyed this walk very much and it gave me a lot of “Wow!” moments. The combination of the peaceful countryside, the beautiful autumn colours of the trees, and a glorious sunny day made it a delightful walk.

“The route is easy walking, but in some areas the path is wet and muddy so strong shoes or boots are recommended.

“I particularly enjoyed climbing to the top of the Millennium Tower and seeing the fabulous views. From the top of the tower I could see for kilometres into the distance. Even the two vapor columns from the nuclear power plant in Chooz, France were visible.

“While I didn’t see a wild boar, I could see clear traces of their digging to the sides of the path and alongside the roads. I also enjoyed walking around the swampy meadows of La Fange de l’Abîme nature reserve. Thankfully there are raised slatted wooden planks to walk on. This would be a lovely area to revisit in Spring to see the wild flowers.”

Thanks Herman for sharing your experiences and photos! I am looking forward to you sharing your next adventure here on Discovering Belgium!

More of Herman’s photos of this walk are in this carousel:

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