Wilhelminaberg

The Wilhelminaberg is a spoil heap: waste rock from the Oranje-Nassau and Wilhelmina mines, piled up over decades of coal working and left when the Limburg pits closed in the 1970s, reaching about two hundred metres above sea level, which in this country is a hill. It was landscaped and planted, and it now carries a park, an indoor ski slope on one flank, a cable car, and the feature that draws people: a long open staircase climbing the side, well over a thousand steps, used as a fitness challenge and walked by large numbers at weekends. From the top the view runs over the whole former coalfield, the German border and, on clear days, a long way into the Eifel. Nearby is the Pinkpop festival site, one of the oldest annual pop festivals in the world, running since 1970.

What you actually see

• A spoil heap as a hill - mine waste piled to about two hundred metres and planted.
• A staircase of over a thousand steps - climbed as a fitness challenge.
• A view over the coalfield - the whole former mining district and into Germany.
• The Pinkpop site - one of the oldest annual pop festivals, running since 1970.

When to go

April to October. Half a day.

Honest expectations

The staircase is genuinely hard and there is no shade. The hill is entirely artificial and the surroundings are post-industrial. Pinkpop weekend closes the area and fills the roads.

Nearby

Brunssummerheide is west; Kerkrade and GaiaZOO are south.