An elevated spiraled bike path was built, that winds through the Belgian forest about an hour outside of Brussels, in 2019 summer. ‘Cycling Through the Trees’ is part of the Limburg bike route, and works its way up to a height of 32 feet, placing riders inside the forest canopy. Unlike another recent circular tourist attraction, the bike path is not ticketed, and also offers riders places to sit and rest in nearby alcoves with benches.
“Cycling through the Trees” is a cycling path designed by landscape architects BuroLandschap and De Gregorio & Partners
This unique trail is a 360-degree raised circular cycling path that takes visitors up to 32 feet above the ground
Built for tourism organisation Visit Limburg in the Pijnven nature reserve, the structure is a double circle that is 100 metres in diameter. The three-metre-wide path is almost 700 metres long and rises at a gentle gradient to a height of 10 metres before descending back to the forest floor.
Landscape architect BuroLandschap and architect De Gregorio & Partners designed the structure to enable people to engage with the forest but were mindful that the attraction should have the least possible impact on its surroundings. To reduce the impact on the forest, the structure was built using a single crane that was mounted at the centre of the circle. The weathering steel structure was built with screw pile foundations meaning that no concrete was used. Several trees did have to be felled and these were incorporated into a rest stop built near the attraction.
“In Pijnven you can cycle through the trees. Cycling through a forest environment is a special experience for the senses. This cycle path safely takes you into higher realms. Quite literally—because you cycle around a double circle up to a height of 10 metres between the trees. You can see, feel and smell nature’s splendour,” Visit Limburg describes the project on its webpage.
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