How to kayak in the Belgian Ardennes down the Ourthe river from Barrage de Nisramont to La Roche-en-Ardenne and hike all the way back via the GR57 walking trail?
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Combination Kayaking and Hiking
Ever since I was a small kid I would go at least once a year kayaking in the Belgian Ardennes. Usually when you book a kayaking trip you would have to take a bus to the starting point and then kayak back. Sometimes it’s the other way around where you would start where your car is parked and then upon arrival take a bus back to the starting point. That’s how it usually goes. I thought I would try something like packrafting on the Ourthe but without actually carrying the boat on my back. That’s how I came up with this route.
You could easily do this route in 2 days as well. Just follow the exact same instructions but book a hotel or camp for the night in La Roche-en-Ardenne.
I’ll start by describing how to kayak from Nisramont lake to La Roche-en-Ardenne
How to kayak from Barrage de Nisramont to La Roche-en-Ardenne?
While researching this trip I decided that I would use kayak rental company Outdoor Centre that is based in La Roche-en-Ardenne. Usually you would go to their main office Domaine “Les Merlettes”, Val du Pierreux 2, B-6980 La-Roche-en-Ardenne and then they would drive you with your rented kayak to the starting point next to the Ourthe river in Nisramont. After finishing the chosen kayak route you would arrive back at Domaine “Les Merlettes” .
To create this combination of kayaking and hiking I had asked them if they could just bring an extra kayak to the starting place at Nisramont where I parked my car. They said it wasn’t a problem at all. I just had to make sure to bring cash money. Below I will describe all the details about the kayak route on the Ourthe river from Nisramont lake to La Roche-en-Ardenne.
Description kayak from nisramont to la roche-en-ardenne
Distance: The total distance for this route is 18 kilometers
Duration: My time was 3 hours and 3 minutes but I must say I rushed it a bit as I started pretty late.
Starting hour: I would definitely recommend to start around 9h30 which is the earliest time allowed to start kayaking.
Difficulty: The only difficulty is the distance. Also if the water level is low it can be a bit frustrating to be stuck all the time. Make sure to verify water levels before leaving by clicking here!
Price: 25 Euro per person for a duo-kayak or 30 Euro for a single-kayak
Address parking / Start Kayak trip: Bressol, 6983 La Roche-en-Ardenne. You can park your car at this parking which is actually the parking of Barrage de Nisramont. You’ll have to walk a bit back from where you came over the bridge and then to the right.
The easiest way to get there is to use the pinned location on the Google map below.
When is it allowed to Kayak on the Ourthe river?
For multiple reasons, daylight being one of them, there are different time schedules throughout the year that it’s allowed to kayak on the Ourthe.
- 16 March till 15 June – 9h30 to 19h00
- 16 June till 15 October – 9h30 to 20h00
- 16 October till 15 March – 9h30 to 17h00
My experience kayaking from Nisramont to La Roche-en-Ardenne
Because of my poor time management skills I only arrived in Nisramont around 10h40 in the morning. On my way I called the guys from Outdoor Centre and they told me they would bring my kayak at 11h. I should’ve left Nisramont by boat already 1h30 minutes earlier. The sunset was only around 21h30 so I wasn’t really worried (yet). But the driver from Outdoor Centre was late. Terribly late. He only showed up around 12h which made me loose another hour.
On their website they mentioned the kayak route from Nisramont to La Roche-en-Ardenne would take about 4 hours. If water level is low it could be even up to 5 hours. The hike from La Roche-en-Ardenne to Nisramont would be about 5h. This means without taking any breaks and losing time I would be about 9-10 hours on the way. So first calculation was that I would arrive back in Nisramont around 21h or 22h.
As I was a bit under pressure to get back before sunset I rushed it and did the kayak trip to La Roche-en-Ardenne in a little over 3 hours. The water level was pretty low so I had to jump out of the kayak a few times to pull my boat.
The kayak route from Nisramont to maboge
This kayak route is about 18 kilometers long. Leaving from the starting point just a bit downstream of Barrage de Nisramont you pretty much immediately will be surrounded by nothing but nature. Once in a while there are some fishermen or people chilling next to the water but apart from that there’s barely any sign of civilization which I enjoyed very much!
The first signs from civilization are when you reach the small village of Maboge.
THE KAYAK ROUTE FROM MABOGE to La roche-en-ardenne
After kayaking for about 2 hours you will reach Maboge. This is a small village which has some tourism because of the Plage de Maboge. You’ll notice this beach on your leftside right before entering the village. Furthermore there are some bars and restaurants there so it could be a great stop for a well deserved break!
There’s also a short route for kayaking from Maboge to La Roche-en-Ardenne. And I can tell you that route is very popular! After passing by Maboge there were a lot more kayaks on the Ourthe river and it will stay like this until you reach La Roche-en-Ardenne about an hour further.
the finish in LA ROCHE-EN-ARDENNE by kayak
You can know that you reached the finish after you pass 2 campings. One of the campings name is ‘Floreal’. I couldn’t see the other’s name anywhere. Also there’s a big sign marking the kayak finish. Next to the sign there are lots of kayaks and people so you really can’t miss.
To pick up your luggage (if necessary) you will have to take a left and walk about 10 minutes towards Domaine “Les Merlettes”.
Now let me explain everything you need to know to hike from La Roche-en-Ardenne to Nisramont lake via the GR57 trail.
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How to hike from La Roche-en-Ardenne to Nisramont via GR57?
While planning this route I was looking for the best way to hike from La Roche-en-Ardenne to Nisramont. Apparently the GR57 was a good choice. Parts of this route overlap with the famous Escap Ardenne Eislek trail wich is a leading European quality trail.
Hike Description
Distance: The total distance for this hike is 21.7 kilometers
Elevation gain: The total incline was 731 meters
Moving time: My moving time was 4 hours and 19 minutes.
Difficulty: I would rate this as a rather hard hike. Some trails can get quite technical.
Address start: I started from Domaine “Les Merlettes”, Val du Pierreux 2, B-6980 La-Roche-en-Ardenne but you could easily start in the center of La Roche-en-Ardenne at the bridge just in front of the bakery called Vincent Demelenne
The easiest way to find the start is to use the pinned location on the Google map below.
What is the easiest way to hike from la roche to Nisramont?
Generally speaking for all hikes, the easiest way is to download a gpx file. You can view such a file on a gps device, a smartphone or smartwatch. It will tell you step-by-step how to walk. It also includes an elevation profile which can help you to decide if this hike is for you or not. All the hikes on this blog are being tracked on Strava (sports tracking smartphone application) and Wikiloc (community based hiking smartphone application).
For this route in particular I followed an official GR trail which also marked with a painted horizontal white and red symbol. It’s hard to miss actually.
Download the GPX file right here: hike-la-roche-to-nisramont-via-gr57.gpx
If you’re staying multiple days, the hike around the Nisramont lake could be a good option as well: How to hike around the Nisramont lake in the Ardennes (16 km)?
hike la roche-en-ardenne to maboge via GR57
After kayaking or packrafting from Nisramont to La Roche-en-Ardenne you’re probably hungry. La Roche-en-Ardenne is quite a tourist hotspot so there are lots of restaurants and bars to eat or restock on drinks before returning back on foot to Nisramont. If you want to spread this route over two days this would also be the perfect place to stay for the night.
Once you’re refueled and ready to hike 21 kilometers, the first thing you’ll need to do is cross the main bridge in La Roche and start making your way out of the town. It’s quite steep! After about 15 minutes of walking on the street you’ll reach a dead end and the only option will be a gravel road.
In my opinion the next few kilometers are not the best part of this hike. You will be walking mostly on gravel, which I don’t like so much. Once in a while you will be treated with some pretty views. After about 6 kilometers of similar routes right before you arrive in Maboge there’s a pretty steep decent. Now this is where it becomes more interesting!
After this huge descent down to the level of the Ourthe you arrive in Maboge village and will have to walk over the bridge. The one that you previously passed underneath with the Kayak.
Hike Maboge to Nisramont via gr57
To leave the valley of the Ourthe out of Maboge you will have to do some climbing again on mostly asphalted streets. Later on you make your way down again to walk next to the river. The trails next to the river can get quite technical as you sometimes need to climb over rocks and tree roots that are sticking out are not an exception.
Celtic archeological site Le Cheslé
Around halfway into this walk you will reach the archelogical site Le Cheslé. It’s a Celtic site that is spread out over 13 hectares that dates back to 8 BC. Since the 60’s several reconstructions have been made.
As this settlement was constructed high above the Ourthe river, the views are quite spectacular!
Le Hérou – Natural park of the two ourthes
About 16 kilometers into this hike you reach the natural park of the two ourthes called Le Hérou. As I was in a rush because of a thunderstorm that was on its way I didn’t really appreciate how beautiful this area actually is. Le Hérou is an almost vertical rock wall of about 1400 meters long. There are plenty of stunning views to be seen here!
towards the end at Barrage de Nisramont
After what was a very intense day I made it back to the parking at Barrage de Nisramont. Obviously we wouldn’t be in Belgium without some tropical rain and thunder. And that was just 30 minutes before the actual end of this hike. If you check my Strava upload you would probably see that I even ran for about a kilometer. Nevertheless I was soaking wet. That’s all part of the adventure, right?
If you’re staying multiple days, the hike around the Nisramont lake could be a good option as well: How to hike around the Nisramont lake in the Ardennes (16 km)?
Is this packrafting adventure from Nisramont to La Roche-en-Ardenne for you?
To be honest I seriously underestimated this adventure. The last 5-10 kilometers I was mostly hiking and running in zombie mode. It was a super hot 30 degree Celcius day and I didn’t bring enough water which made it extra hard. Immediately upon my return I ordered a Grayl water filter bottle! Would I do it again? Yes absolutely!
If you start early enough and are a bit of an adventure seeker you will definitely enjoy this packrafting trip! Without actually packing the raft.
Another option would be to spread it out over 2 days which would give you plenty of time to enjoy the nice sights along the way.
I’m always happy to hear from you guys so feel free to leave a comment or contact me on my socials!