Heerlen-Wijnansrade-Schimmert-Valkenburg-Wijlre-Eys-Voerendaal-Heerlen

Trip statisticsTrip distance:    45.8 kmMoving Time:      2h 19minStop time:        30min Max speed:        57.6 km/hAve moving time:  19.7 km/hTour descriptionAlthough the weather forecast said it would rain all day, there was just sun and some clouths on this last Saturday in February so I decided to take the MTB out for another ride. I left the house at 14h49 (temperature 13-14 C) heading towards my first stop: the "Maria" chapel in Ten Esschen. I pass there often but never stop. A nice place to be alone with your thoughts for a moment. Today I felt like exploring some new roads so I went towards Swier and Wijnandsrade. When you approach Wijnandsrade you are welcomed by the large Castle of Wijnandsrade. There I turned left and right again into a small road, passing a tiny village and climbing up onto a plateau. From here there was a nice view of Heerlen and Landgraaf with the biggest landmark visible Snow World. Next stop was the water tower of Schimmert which I reached by riding over several dirt roads (passing Aalbeek along the way). I have seen this tower often, but never this close... Just outside Klein Haasdal I passed another chapel, however it was closed. A few hundred meters further I stopped at a typical cross as you can find on many other places in the Dutch Mountains. Apparently ( I never noticed before) this cross is part of the pilgrim route to Santiago de Compostella. The route is marked with a small rectangular sign of a scallop shell on a blue back ground. It was time to start heading south so I went towards the well known tourist village of Valkenburg. But I had to cross the A79 (highway between Heerlen and Maastricht) first. Before doing so I stopped at a panorama point overlooking the Geul dal of Houthem and Valkenburg. Only a few landmarks could be seen from here: Castle "Geulzicht"  and the church of Berg en Terblijt.I crossed the A79 via a small tunnel that brought me into Houthem. I made a left turn toward the well known tourist city of Valkenburg and passed the famous Chateau St. Gerlach. In Valkenburg it was busy as always. I cycled along the river Geul up to the small bridge close to Castle Genhoes in Oud-Valkenburg. This is a marvelous area to stroll around, especially once the trees are full of leafs.My last stop for the day was going to be the panorama point in the Eyserbos forest. That point can only be reached on foot or by a MTB. A couple of kilometers before reaching the point I stopped because of two Egyptian Geese blocked my path, sort of... I haven't seen them before although they are common for this area. Then finally I reached the panorama point where you have a nice view towards Eys, Vaals, Aken.Coming out of the Eyserbos forest you can not miss the big communication tower of Eys (94mtr tall and the base is 190mtr above sea level), which is another landmark you can see from many kilometers around.Via Eyserheide I made my way home, passing the highest parish in the Netherlands: Ubachsberg, which is 200mtr above sea level. It was funny to find a "Carnavalswagen" (trailer used during Carnaval 2 weeks ago). The text : Os Prinse hant de mutsj sjots & sjeef. Meaning:  We princes have our hats higgledy-piggledy. By the time I got back home the temperature had dropped to 10C and the sun had almost set. It was a very pleasant spent afternoon!Photos: See all pictures and videos from Heerlen-Wijnansrade-Schimmert-Valkenburg-Wijlre-Eys-Voerendaal-Heerlen