5.0
(7)
269
runners
Le Belvédère Viewpoint – Lesse River loop from Han-sur-Lesse
02:01
15.9km
400m
Running
Hard run. Very good fitness required. Mostly paved surfaces. Suitable for all skill levels. The starting point of the route is accessible with public transport.
Last updated: August 1, 2026
Waypoints
Start point
Bus stop
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89 m
Cave of Han-sur-Lesse
Highlight • Cave
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167 m
Han-sur-Lesse Village Center
Highlight • Settlement
As its name suggests, the locality is located on a river, the Lesse, a tributary of the Meuse, which has caused the partial erosion of the Calestienne limestone massif in the surrounding area, so that caves have appeared. These caves, known worldwide as the Caves of Han, are the main attraction of the village. A wild animal park was opened in 1970. This park brings together various species of wild animals: wild boars, fallow deer, tarpans, European bison, ibexes, large Poitou donkeys, reconstituted aurochs, brown bears, as well as wolves and Eurasian lynxes. The animal park can be visited aboard a small road train. There is also the Museum of the Underworld, where the visitor can see how the caves were formed and how they are explored. This museum houses a collection of archaeological finds over a period ranging from the Neolithic to the present day. Everything is gathered in the domain of the caves of Han.
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1.26 km
Han-sur-Lesse Trail
Highlight • Trail
2.04 km
Le Belvédère Viewpoint
Highlight • Viewpoint
This area is protected for both its beauty and its flora and fauna. At your feet lie the exceptional 'dry valley' or 'chavée', or more simply, the former bed of the Lesse River, as well as the wooded Boine massif, which is dome-shaped and in which the river has carved the Han Caves.
Until 100,000 years ago, the Lesse followed this wide meander before finding an easier underground path, thus creating the Belvaux chasm, where it plunges into the limestone of the massif through a vertiginous siphon some fifty meters deep. This is 'the river's disappearance'. It reappears 2 km further on at the exit of the caves. The chasm fills up as soon as the water flow exceeds 25,000 liters per second, the river reclaims its old meander and once again bypasses the Boine massif, flooding the surrounding villages. The inhabitants of Han then say that 'the water is turning'.
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2.06 km
View of the Famenne Valley
Highlight • Viewpoint
9.58 km
Morille Spot
Highlight • Forest
10.9 km
Lesse River
Highlight • River
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Tip by
14.0 km
Resistance Memorial Han-sur-Lesse
Highlight • Monument
A modest memorial has stood along a hiking trail near Han-sur-Lesse, in the province of Namur, since 1970. It was erected at the initiative of local residents on the spot where resistance fighters—including two Soviet citizens—were executed by the occupying forces.
The monument bears no names, but it does bear two poignant inscriptions in French. The first reads: “Those piers which sank us into the trenches. O heroic, obscure Venus here, we will give our life to preserve ours”—a poetic ode to the unknown heroes who gave their lives to save ours. The second text explicitly commemorates the American pilots and the Russian and Belgian resistance fighters who died in this area between 1940 and 1945.
Above the inscriptions are the flags of the United States, Russia, and Belgium—a symbolic recognition of international solidarity and the shared resistance against oppression. Although modest in size, the monument carries a powerful message of remembrance and gratitude. Commemoration ceremonies are held annually, bringing together the local community and representatives of the countries involved to honor the fallen heroes.
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Tip by
15.9 km
End point
Bus stop
Way Types & Surfaces
Way Types
8.78 km
4.80 km
1.15 km
1.02 km
169 m
Surfaces
6.53 km
4.89 km
2.02 km
1.33 km
1.01 km
130 m
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Elevation
Highest point (300 m)
Lowest point (150 m)
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Weather
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Monday 17 August
19°C
14°C
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Our route recommendations are based on thousands of hikes, rides, and runs completed by other people on komoot.
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