Botrange-Mont Rigi-Les Wés-Botrange 10 km

Hike in the natural park High Fens/Hautes Fagnes/Hohes Venn/Hoge Venen, from Botrange, the highest point in Belgium, to Mont Rigi and then on to the Les Wés and Fagne Wallonne fen areas, and back. Hike on forest roads, trails and boardwalks. Most of the walk is on elevated paths and boardwalks, so there is only little risk of getting your feet wet. I did this hike with snow and frosty conditions, and then the frozen snow on the boardwalks may be slippery. Ample parking at Botrange (although it may fill up soon in weekends) and Mont Rigi. You can find something to eat at Botrange and at the renovated restaurant at Mont Rigi.
From the parking you walk past the little artificial hill with stairs which could bring you to 700 meter altitude (from the 693 meters of Botrange), if you are in to that. You follow paths and forest roads through the fens towards the N68, with a boardwalk where the path gets wet. You cross the N68 and follow a trail towards the Fagne de Polleur. You get to a boardwalk and follow that downhill along the Polleur river. You cross the Polleur on to an elevated path which takes you all the way around the Fagne de Polleur, partly along the forest edge to Mont Rigi. There is a weather station here and a restaurant, as well as cross-country ski rental. You cross the N68 and take a forest track (may be wet) to the Les Wés fen area. You follow a broad track around Les Wés, on the edge of the forest. You get to a boardwalk which you follow downhill, along the Helle/Hill stream. Here, the views across the fens are great. You walk along the former Prussian/Belgian border and the boardwalk takes you to an old border stone next to the Helle. From here, you take another boardwalk along the Fagne Wallonne and Les Wés towards Botrange. Again, the views are great. The boardwalk ends and a forest road continues along the Fagne Wallonne. After about 1 km from the boardwalk you keep left along the Fens to Botrange. The communication tower soon appears and a bit further there is an elevated viewpoint across the Fagne Wallonne. From here, it is not far back to the starting point at Botrange.