High Fens

The Hautes Fagnes is a plateau above six hundred metres in the far east of Belgium carrying the largest area of raised bog in the country, formed over thousands of years on impermeable rock where rainfall is high and evaporation low, and it holds the highest point in Belgium at the Signal de Botrange, 694 metres. The landscape is open moor, peat, cotton grass, birch and spruce, cut by streams and crossed by boardwalks that keep walkers off the fragile surface. It is the coldest and wettest place in the country, with snow lying for long periods and mist common at any season. It is a nature reserve with a zoning system, and some areas can only be entered with a guide. The German Eifel park continues across the border.

What you actually see

• Raised bog and peat - the largest such area in Belgium.
• The Signal de Botrange - the highest point in the country at 694 metres.
• Boardwalk routes - the paths that keep walkers off the bog surface.
• Cotton grass and moorland - the open plateau vegetation.

When to go

May to October for walking; winter brings snow and cross-country skiing. Half a day for a boardwalk circuit. Fire risk closes zones in dry spring weather, and this happens most years. Mist is common.

Honest expectations

Zones close for fire risk in dry weather, often at short notice and sometimes for weeks. Some areas require a guide. Weather is genuinely bad here more often than not, with mist, wind and rain. Boardwalks are slippery. Navigation in mist is difficult.

Nearby

Eupen is north; Malmedy lies south-west.