Cycling through the trees

Cycling through the Trees is a new cycling and walking track by Visit Limburg in Belgium and is designed by BuroLandschap. It was designed to raise the Limburg cycle route network to a higher level and offer a unique experience for all abilities.

The path begins near cycling junction 272 at the Pijnven in Bosland, a 5.1-hectare natural heartland where children are the boss. It also happens to be the largest adventure forest in Flanders.

The circularity of the path is a reference to the rings found in tree trunks.

BuroLandschap’s 700-metre cycle bridge is made from a double circle 100-metres in diameter, rising gradually to a height of 10-metres before descending at the same 3-4% gradient.

The 360-degree experience features a subtle wire net and one-way cycling for safety, as well as a three-metre wide path so cyclists can ride side by side.

The project is part of ‘Cycling Synergy’, a strategy to add a series of unique cycling experiences to the cycle route network of Limburg.

Bosland consists of mostly coniferous trees that were planted at the end of last century for the mining industry. Mine closures meant they were never felled, and as they were all the same age they restricted the structural development of the forest.

Respect for flora and fauna was key to both the design of the cycle bridge and its construction in the forest.

Cycling through the Trees has balanced the forest’s resources by giving indigenous trees more light and space to grow, and an installation pavilion is featured, crafted from the trunks felled to clear the way for the cycle path.

The new cycle bridge is constructed on 449 unique cortex steel pillars in a pattern reminiscent of the pine trees in the Pijnven forest.

They both blend the structure into its environment and honour the region’s mining history.

“Respect for flora and fauna was key to both the design of the cycle bridge and its construction in the forest,” say BuroLandschap, and different seasons will offer different sounds and scents, and therefore experiences.

The project is part of ‘Cycling Synergy’, a strategy to add a series of unique cycling experiences to the cycle route network of Limburg, and therefore strengthen its leisure economy and safeguard its reputation as a cycling paradise.

Linked to Cycling through the Water in Bokrijk, Cycling through the Trees opened to the public on 15 June last year.

The cycleway features one way tracks to increase safety.