Driving to Lake Gileppe

In my post about the Signal de Botrange, I mentioned the nature park of the High Fens. When I was doing research about the post of today, I found some more pictures of this beautiful area. Here they are:

Let's drive to Jalhay, a small picturesque town. It's cosy here with all the cafes and restaurants, but most tourists ignore it and follow the roadsigns towards Gileppe Dam, just a couple of kilometres away. And to be honest, it's quite breathtaking.

Let's start with some numbers. The dam itself is 68 metres high, 365 metres long and its base is 66 metres wide. The lake itself - also called Gileppe - has a total capacity of 26.400.000 cubic metres and covers an area of 130 hectares. The dam was constructed between 1868 and 1878.

Initially, the function of the dam was to supply water for the wool industry in the nearby city of Verviers. Nowadays, times have changed and the dam is used to provide drinking water. And of course, the dam and the lake attract lots of tourists. This is, by the way, the first dam built in modern Belgium. On top of it, you can see a huge lion sculpture of about 13,5 metres high.

The parking space is located next to an observation tower. There is an elevator that brings you all the way down to the dam and the lake. There is a restaurant as well, but the beautiful view comes at a price. Or in other words, it's not cheap. Anyway, all in all, this is a beautiful area. During the summer holidays, you better come early, as the dam and the lake attract lots of tourists.

Afterwards, we had one last look at the High Fens.

It's Saturday tomorrow and I will probably be over at my other blog writing something related to the Oscars. On Monday, I will take you the Belgian coast.