Top 20 Bike Parks around Zutendaal

Thor Central is a powerfully impressive industrial building that was protected as heritage after the closure of the mines. As part of the search for a meaningful function for the Waterschei mining site and the option to develop the site into a technology park, the assignment to give this beautiful building a new future was also included. Thor Central is the beating heart of the Thor Park site. Besides the Food Plaza with restaurant Partaasch and brasserie Lampada, the building mainly has a business function, with meeting rooms, an auditorium, a central reception, and even a daycare center. Events and exhibitions are regularly held here.

Overall, this place and the surrounding area is a great practice ground for sand riding and has beautiful nature.

On the outskirts of Genk lies Thor Park, a unique place where natural heritage and technology converge. This former mining site has been transformed into one of the official gateways to the Hoge Kempen National Park, and you can feel it from the moment you enter. Here begins a landscape that has been constantly evolving: from industrial worksites to vast nature reserves where tranquil heathland and forests once again take center stage. Numerous walks depart from the park, taking you deeper into nature. The Klaverberg, a green slag heap towering above the landscape, offers expansive views of Genk and the surrounding forests. The Heiderbos welcomes you with open pine forests, soft moss, and heather vegetation that glows purple in summer. Even lower in the landscape lies the Thorpark Valley, a serene depression where water zones, young plants and birds, are slowly taking their place. Boardwalks lead you past heathland fens and wetlands so characteristic of the Hoge Kempen: quiet, fragile, and beautiful. It's an area built on the remains of vanished industry—a landscape that now speaks of restoration, resilience, and the power of nature. Yet, Thor Park is more than just nature today. It's also a breeding ground for the future. Where miners once dug down shafts, they're now working on solutions for tomorrow. Here you'll find EnergyVille, the research center for sustainable energy and smart energy systems. The site also boasts several modern business incubators and campuses where technology, design, and innovation reinforce each other. This tension between past and future—between old mining structures and sleek modern buildings—gives Thor Park its unique character. It feels like walking through a place that's constantly reinventing itself. Dotted between the buildings are paths and open spaces, artworks that perfectly complement the story of Thor Park. "Courteous Bow" and "Greeting" are beautiful examples: wooden sculptures that gently evoke human interaction and encounters in the heart of an environment that once revolved around labor and industry. They add a touch of poetry to the landscape. Thor Park is much more than a starting point: it's a place where nature embraces the past and where innovation shapes the future. An area where every walk brings a piece of history, a view, restoration, and tranquility, and where you enter the Hoge Kempen region with the feeling that the landscape has been waiting for you for centuries.

https://www.nationaalparkhogekempen.be/nl/thorpark "Thorpark is a 10 km² area behind the former Waterschei mine and has been part of the national park since 2018. Here you'll find everything the Hoge Kempen has to offer: mining mountains surrounded by heath and pine forests, a beautiful stream valley, juniper berries, and inland dunes. A few striking buildings add a touch of character to the landscape: the As Children's Colony and the Waterschei Coal Mine (Thor Central). If you'd like to see what the UNESCO candidacy is all about, you'll find a nice taste here. You can already take a long walk there, but there's no entrance gate yet, as is familiar to the other gates. Thor Central will serve as a gateway in the future. Now you can visit this building, which serves as an event center, without obligation, take a guided tour, or enjoy a snack or a drink in beautiful historic surroundings. Thor Central is also the vibrant Heart of a growing business and science park where technology, research, energy and innovation are at the heart."

Impressive facility for various sports

There is now also a mammoth skeleton in De Kuil. Don't believe it? Read more here: https://www.zonhoven.be/rendierjagerspad De Kuil has indeed been included - and successfully - in the new Reindeer Hunters' Trail. Be sure to walk around there too, new benches, information boards and fun things that refer to prehistoric times. And if you want to see the cross-country skiers at work, you should definitely also check out the grass areas behind the pit where sometimes a runner goes up high via one of the ski jumps.

Opening hours Thor Central: Monday to Saturday: 08:30 – 17:30 André Dumontlaan 67, 3600 Genk T: +32 89 699 599 - info@thorcentral.be www.thorcentral.be

The Thorpark is a 10 km² area behind the former Waterschei mine. The area has so many qualities that it will become part of the national park. Here you will find everything that the Hoge Kempen has to offer: mining stone mountains in the middle of heather and pine forests, a beautiful stream valley, juniper berries and sand dunes. A few striking buildings break up the landscape: the As children's colony and the Waterschei mine (Thor Central). Source: https://www.nationaalparkhogekempen.be/de/tor/thorpark