Station As - red - 16,2 km

This hike leads through woodlands and an attractive small-scale agricultural landscape to the Bosbeekvallei and the Rouwmortelven and the toegangspoort Station As.

For years, Station As played a central role in coal mining in this region, as many miners and coal wagons departed from here to the nearby mines in Eisden, Waterschei, and Winterslag.

The geological wall, located in a former quarry, gives you a view of the formation history of the Hoge Kempen. You can view the wall at various levels via a stairway tower 8.5 meters high. At the top, you stand at the original level, before there was a quarry.

Towards the northern part of the loop, you pass the Bosbeek. The Bosbeek originates at the border of As with Genk. Over a distance of 2.5 km, it forms the boundary between As and Opglabbeek, a sub-municipality of Oudsbergen. It then flows through Opoeteren and Neeroeteren to flow into the Maas at Aldeneik (near Maaseik). The Bosbeek has a large drop, which made it particularly suitable for watermills. The Theunissenmolen is one of the 12 mills on the Bosbeek.

You also pass the Rouwmortelven. This beautiful heathland pond is a chosen location for plants of the ‘natte heide’: cotton grass, cross-leaved heath, and the carnivorous sundew. It is a habitat for dragonflies and amphibians, including some very rare species (moor frog, great crested newt, fen emerald damselfly).