Sambre River (111 km)

The Sambre River is a major waterway, with a capacity of 1,350 tons from its junction with the Meuse at Namur west to just above Charleroi. From there west to the border the capacity is 350 tons, small by modern standards but still with a surprising amount of traffic. The locks on the upper section are hand cranked - no power machinery to help out. There are occasional KP, counting up towards Namur from the border.

Namur - Charleroi (49 km)

Somewhat to my surprise, this is a delightful ride. Most of the industry which used to line the river has been overcome by new forest, and the remaining few large chemical plants do not intrude on the peaceful river. The right (south) bank paved towpath (not shown on GeoCart) is mostly in good to very good condition, with two short stretches where you have to ride on a road. The waterfowl are plentiful in number and variety - the water quality must be fairly good. The valley is entirely forest in the narrow sections, with agriculture and occasional industry or town in the wider sections. The railway that parallels the river is usually out of sight. There are no major roads and hence little traffic noise.

By the mouth in Namur there is towpath on both banks, but the right (south) bank is badly in need of maintenance. If you are coming from the east along the Meuse, cross that river at the road bridge (Pont des Ardennes) at about Meuse KP 46.7. This is a lovely arch, made unusually from steel plate. It was built in 1957.

Across the bridge, go left and then left down the steps to the towpath. The mouth of the Sambre is about 300 m, and just above Sambre KP 87.5. On your right is the lovely old town of Namur, on the left above the river the citadel. The towpath is stone, but recently repaved and quite smooth. Most of the buildings along the river have been rehabilitated. A detour into the town is worthwhile. Just past the first bridge you pass a restaurant ship, the President.

At KP 86.5 you reach the fourth bridge (Pont de la Liberation) across the Sambre in Namur, and must cross to the opposite bank. From here, the left (north) bank offers little riding opportunity. The KP in this stretch are painted on the retaining wall on the north (left) bank of the river. They are rather faded - binoculars are useful for reading many.

Sambre towpath west of Namur
source: Alex Carr May 2006

The first few hundred meters are a bit rough, but once you reach a lock (KP 85.5) things improve. The river makes a loop to the south and soon you are in woods. There is some major commercial activity, but it hardly impacts on the tranquillity of the river. When you pass the rail bridge about KP 78 you are out of the city: mostly woods with some villages. About two km later you see looming over the river a large church and attached buildings. This is the Abbey of Floreffe, founded in 1120. Most of what you can see is 18^th century but the oldest part of the complex dates to 1150. The church is from several periods, the tower 16^th century. The abbey is now a school, and can be visited from April to September.

From the rail bridge about KP 72 the KP become signs on the south bank. Some are missing and many damaged - no maintenance in many years. Around KP 69 you have to ride 400 m on the highway, as you do from KP 64 to 63.5. Massive industrial complexes are found around KP 68 (Glaverbel) and KP 66 (Solvay) on the north bank. The town of Auvelais (part of Sambreville) lies on the south bank around KP 63. The town square, by the church, has a good selection of pubs and a Greek friterie (La Fringale) with excellent pittas. About KP 61.5 I watched a man feeding a pair of geese. The geese were on the towpath, and the man had a dog. Dog and geese warily ignored each other.

At KP 57.5 you enter Tamines. The towpath ends at the bridge. Cross the river to continue on the left (north) bank.

Access: E 42 exit 14, south on N98 towards Sambreville. After crossing the river, exit immediately and park by the river. (Jan 1999)

From Tamines bridge you have a good towpath along the left (north bank) of the river for over 8 km. The route is mostly through countryside, becoming hilly just west of Tamines. (This is also the border between Namur and Hainaut provinces.) Many of the hills are manmade, either coal or mine waste. In 8 km you pass on the other side of the river a side harbor now used for tearing apart old barges. You may be fortunate enough to see a giant metal nipper literally chewing up the barges.

new Sambre towpath
source: Karel Roose

Then on the other side is a boat yard where new barges are built and old repaired. A few hundred meters bring you to a bridge. Continue straight and the path curves past an incinerator and onto a side harbor. From that point there is a new cement towpath that takes you past KP 47 to the south end of the L119 rail trail to Roux just past a pipeline/pedestrian bridge

South end of L119 rail trail at the Sambre
source: Karel Roose

. If you plan to head north on the Brussels - Charleroi Canal, the rail trail enables you to bypass Charleroi.

Then 6 km of bleak industrial landscape with a variety of dead factories brings you to the edge of Charleroi. There was a towpath on the south side of the river in this stretch, but it has not been maintained and is not usable. At the first Charleroi bridge the towpath splits. To see a bit of the city, take the right branch and ride the road on top of the embankment. Otherwise, take the left branch down onto a path built on the side of a fairly new retaining wall through the city. A few places along this section there are narrow stairs that can be used to go up to ground level if you want to visit the city. In a little over 1 km that ends and the path splits again as it curves slightly away from the river.

Canalized Sambre through Charleroi by south rail station

From this point the north bank of the river is blocked by industrial activity. Take the right branch and keep right to climb up to the low level bridge across the Sambre. Across the river is the Charleroi south station. At this point you can turn north for the Charleroi canal.

Note that there is also a path along the retaining wall on the south bank. There is no way to get on or off that path for about 1,400 m as it runs through the heart of Charleroi. (June 1998) In August 2000 there was a construction project on the south bank in front of the station, perhaps a project to make the lower towpath more user-friendly. The project makes the lower towpath on the south bank unusable. (updated by Karel Roose 11 Aug 2003) (Tamines - Charlerois reviewed by Dirk Vande Putte May 2005.)

Sambre through Charleroi. The Eau d'Heure is dammed to the south to provide water for the Charleroi canal in times of low rain.

Charleroi - Jeumont (FR) (41 km)

This route is part of RAVeL 3, which is partly signposted.

Once you get past the Charleroi steel mill (formerly Cockerill - Sambre, now Usinor) complex, this is a lovely ride on fine pavement through a scenic and mostly rural or natural valley.

At west edge of central Charleroi is a cluster of four bridges: low, medium and high level road bridges, and a "Metro" bridge. There is a cycle path along the medium level road bridge, with a spiral ramp for access, but it is easier to use the low level bridge.

Two small views of the vast iron and steel complex along the Sambre River in Charleroi

From the south end of the low level bridge, turn west (right) along the south (right) bank of the river. After traversing an area now used for parking and then riding for a short distance along a road (combined about 400 m), you reach a lock and then have towpath to the west. The mouth of the Charleroi canal is across the river, and heavy industry (Cockerill Sambre steel/iron) on both sides. You may see many barges being loaded and unloaded. If scrap metal is being unloaded on the south bank, the path will be blocked with temporary fences. But you can get through - just be very careful and pass when the grapple is away from the river. (A helmet is a good idea, anyhow.) Now and then great clouds of smoke are produced, perhaps when a smelting oven is being recharged. Some of the rail cars are giant thermos bottles, used for carrying molten iron to the steel making sites. You may be sprayed from a cooling tower at the Air Liquid factory west of the iron and steel mill. This segment is about 3.4 km long.

If you wish to avoid the towpath here, follow the road (signs for Marchienne-au-Pont) from the bridge. There is no bike path but traffic is generally not too heavy and most of the way the road is fairly wide. The detour is about 3 km long. As you near Marchienne-au-Pont the road narrows - you are best on the sidewalk. There is also a road that parallels the river on the north side, but it is not recommended.

The church barge at Marchienne-au-Pont

The first public bridge west of Charleroi is at Marchienne-au-Pont. Notice the chapel barge on the south bank just west of the bridge. Just past the barge on the south bank is a commune complex including offices, an indoor pool and other facilities. The oldest building on the compound is a chateau called "Cartier." I have been unable to find anything about it.

If you are coming from the west and wish to connect to the Charleroi Canal, this is the point to turn away from the river. Cross the bridge head downhill through the parking area to the NE. At the bottom of the hill follow the street north (sign for Monceau) for 300 m to a traffic light and junction with highway N90. Continue straight for 800 m, with some climbing, to a signaled T junction with a sign for Charleroi to the right. Turn right. You cross several rail tracks (yard to the north) and reach in 700 m a T junction opposite a tower in the steel mill complex. Turn left, following bike route signs. At the bottom of the road you reach the canal towpath. Continue north. (August 2000)

To continue west on the Sambre, cross to the north bank. The first 200 m are on road, along the harbor area. Then you start paved towpath. Another 200 m brings you to a bridge over a dock entrance. Notice the long red building to the north. This is a "Metro" station, designed in the 1970's when Charleroi was confident that it would build a heavy metro system. The line is served by trams which are about a quarter the length of the station. (The outer - western - section of the "metro" line is still an original Vicinal - Société Nationale des Chemins de Fer Vicinaux - interurban line, running on roads. The Vicinal at its peak had nearly 5,000 km of secondary railway around Belgium, much of it electrified.)

Moulin "metro station"

Monceau lock and power plant cooling tower

You have now entered an industrial zone about 4 km long. The service road is in pretty good shape. Much of the area has been cleared of earlier factory buildings and the sites reclaimed by new-growth forest. Two km from Marchienne bridge you reach Monceau lock, which is towered over on the north bank by a power plant and on the south bank by its cooling tower. There is then a nice wooded section for 1.6 km There the pavement ends and you enter the harbor area of a quarry. This can be a bit messy when wet, but the mud never seems to get very thick. On weekdays there are trucks and barges being loaded. Watch for skip loaders.

quarry

Landelies

Past the quarry you share a hard dirt road with occasional holes for about 600 m until you reach pavement again. That narrow access road reaches in 1.2 km the Landelies bridge and lock. Notice the church to the right. The tower is 10^th century, as is part of the nave. The choir (the elaborate east end) is early 16^th century Gothic.

From Landelies west there is fine towpath through a lovely natural area. The cement pavement is dated 1985. 2.5 km brings you to the tourist development around the Abbaye d'Aulne, founded in 657 (or 682, according to another source) by Landelinus. The abbey ruins are very impressive - this establishment had a lot of money. The abbey passed through the hands of various church groups and was periodically enlarged. The last work, on the bishop's palace, was hardly finished when the abbey was burnt during the religious revolts (aka French revolution) in 1794. The ruins are open to visit from 1 April through 30 September, 10:00 - 18:00 except Tuesdays. (The intact building, and an adjacent church, were probably built after 1815. The building now houses a senior citizens home.) There are several pubs and a hotel clustered around the lock and bridge.

One section of the ruins of the Abbey of Aulne

Continuing on, the valley is mostly wooded - and very peaceful. There is no road, just the paved towpath. Periodically you pass under the rail line as it tries to make a straight line out of the curvaceous valley. At one point there is a rail halt - which seems to serve nothing but a handful of houses on the riverside. This would be a great service for weekenders wanting to walk or cycle the valley. Trains run every two hours except on Sunday. (February 2001, updated by André Maes Sep 2007)

The next town is nearly 9 km, Thuin. For an interesting detour, cross the bridge and follow the narrow gage tram tracks to the west for a few hundred meters. After a short climb another narrow gage line comes out of the weeds to the left. Follow those tracks (or better the road and then a driveway) to the Vicinal Tramway Discovery Centre. On 15 June 2004 a new museum building was dedicated, with over 30 electric and steam trams now on display. There are tram operations on Sundays April - September, plus Saturdays July and August, and a few holidays, from the museum across the Sambre and through Lobbes. Plans also call for conversion of the abandoned standard gage rail line south of the museum (which is at the site of the former Thuin main line rail station) to meter gage for a couple of km. This will provide a pleasant country run for the operational trams.

Sambre past Thuin
source Dirk Vande Putte

Back on the left (north bank), you ride on road for a while, but there is little traffic as it leads nowhere. Near the west side of the town is a boat yard on the south bank, still very much alive. They do both pleasure boats and barges, which above Landeleis are limited to about 370 tons and a width of 5.1 m. From the twin rail bridges past the boatyard (the north bridge is for the SNCV, and recently restored for tram operation) the pavement deteriorates into patchy asphalt. Quite ridable, but not as pleasant as the new stuff. This section lasts about 1.5 km, most of the way to the next town of Lobbes.

Sambre valley between Thuin and Lobbes

Lobbes is worth a short detour. The church (St Ursmer) is one of the oldest north of the Alps. The layout of the central section, and parts of what you see, are from about 823. The last major rehab was in 1195, with the central tower added in the 19^th century. The interior shows a lot of water damage. A sign says that a renovation project has been underway since 1851(!). (Karel Roose note 9 Aug 2003 - the exterior work is finished but on that day the church was closed.)

As you go up the hill, just past the railroad underpass is another of the few remaining sections of interurban Vicinal railway - and the section used by the museum in Thuin. A little further up is the main square, with several pubs. Park the bike here and walk up the steps to the church.

Returning to the river, the fine 1986 cement path continues to the west through farmland and woods. The valley slowly widens out until you are on a gently rolling plateau. There are occasional pubs and villages. 14 km past Lobbes the new pavement ends. The 2+ km to the border is a mixture of older cement with occasional rough joints and old patched asphalt. It is quite ridable, though.

The border (KP 0) is as usual marked by a change in pavement. On the French side you have hard packed crushed limestone - fine riding. The first section is through a factory - it is on both sides of the canal, and has a private bridge. (Watch for forklifts.) Then the south bank is green again.

The next bridge is Le Pont Noir in Jeumont, 1,200 m from the border. The towpath ends on the north bank. (March/April 1999) (reviewed/updated by Karel Roose 9 Aug 2003) (Reviewed by Dirk Vande Putte May 2005.)

Access: for Landelies, use exit 4 of the R3 (Charleroi ring). Follow the N579 south for a little over 1 km to a traffic light with a direction for Landelies pointing to the right. Take the right and drive at a decently low speed down the steep grade to the river. There is a parking lot in the small island in the river at the Landelies bridge and lock.

Jeumont - Hautmont (FR) (21 km)
from Joe Rine

From Jeumont to past Hautmont there is limestone towpath, with a couple of sections of street riding. Generally, the path changes sides at each bridge: south bank from Jeumont to Marpent (6 km), north bank to Boussois, south bank to Rousies, north bank to Maubeuge. At Maubeuge there is a section of street riding. At Hautmont you cross back to the south bank, and in 4 km the limestone path ends. You can continue on a hard-packed dirt trail ridable for a mountain bike.

Last updated 18 October 2007

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