Shepherds used to stop here at noon with their flocks, and the beeches they rested under are still standing, though not for much longer. The clearing in the Fagne de Longlou was a prandj'lohe, the local name for a midday resting place, and the spruce plantation that now closes in on every side did not exist when the shepherds used it. They would not recognise the approach. The beeches are roughly 250 years old by the estimate of the local hiking guides, and Wallonia classified the site as protected heritage on 15 January 1936. The GR56 long-distance trail runs past, which is how most people arrive: on foot, through the Hautes Fagnes, with the clearing appearing only when the conifers open up. Know what you are walking to. The old trees are at the end of their lives, and in 1993 the Amis des Fagnes planted young beeches beside them so the resting place would outlast its namesakes. How many of the original six still stand is not settled: one account says three, and we have not been able to confirm it. If you have stood in the clearing recently, tell us the count. What you find is a place in the middle of handing itself over, old trunks and their replacements side by side. That is a reason to go sooner rather than later.
A clearing in the Fagne de Longlou (also called Fagne de Tirifaye), in the forest between Xhoffraix and Hockai, north of the Route de l'Ancienne Douane, Beverce, Malmedy You can recognise it by the old beeches standing in an open clearing ringed by spruce, with young beeches planted in 1993 beside them. It stands on the GR56 in the Fagne de Longlou.
Free, in a forest clearing reached by marked trails (the GR56 long-distance trail passes the spot) in the Hautes Fagnes; open at all times, no ticket.
In the forest between Xhoffraix and Hockai near Malmedy. There is no public transport stop at the site; it is reached on foot via the GR56 or local walking trails.