Croix Scaille

{{Infobox mountain , name=Croix Scaille , photo=La Tour du millénaire à Gedinne.jpg , photo_caption=The Tour du Millénaire (2012) , elevation_m=504 , elevation_ref= , range=

Ardennes The Ardennes (french: Ardenne ; nl, Ardennen ; german: Ardennen; wa, Årdene ; lb, Ardennen ), also known as the Ardennes Forest or Forest of Ardennes, is a region of extensive forests, rough terrain, rolling hills and ridges primarily in Be ...

, coordinates = {{coord, 49.95083, N, 4.84556, E, type:mountain_scale:100000, format=dms, display=inline,title , location=

Province of Namur Namur (; nl, Namen ; wa, Nameur) is a province of Wallonia, one of the three regions of Belgium. It borders (clockwise from the West) on the Walloon provinces of Hainaut, Walloon Brabant, Liège and Luxembourg in Belgium, and the French depart ...

Wallonia Wallonia (; french: Wallonie ), or ; nl, Wallonië ; wa, Waloneye or officially the Walloon Region (french: link=no, Région wallonne),; nl, link=no, Waals gewest; wa, link=no, Redjon walone is one of the three regions of Belgium—alo ...

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

, first_ascent= , age= , geology= , type= , map = Belgium The Croix Scaille is the

plateau In geology and physical geography, a plateau (; ; ), also called a high plain or a tableland, is an area of a highland consisting of flat terrain that is raised sharply above the surrounding area on at least one side. Often one or more sides ha ...

of a forested massif in the

, in

, bounded to the north by the valley of the

Semois The Semois (; ''Simwès'' in Walloon, often under elided form ''Smwès''; ''Semoy'', ''Sesbach'' in German, ''Setzbaach'' in Luxemburgish of Arlon; and known as the ''Semoy'' in France) is a river flowing from the Ardennes uplands of Belgium and ...

and to the east by the

Meuse The Meuse ( , , , ; wa, Moûze ) or Maas ( , ; li, Maos or ) is a major European river, rising in France and flowing through Belgium and the Netherlands before draining into the North Sea from the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta. It has a t ...

. It is the highest point of the southern Ardennes, with a height of 504 metres above sea level and is located exactly on the Franco-Belgian border on the edge of the French département of Ardennes (commune of Hautes-Rivières), and the Belgian

province of Namur Namur (; nl, Namen ; wa, Nameur) is a province of Wallonia, one of the three regions of Belgium. It borders (clockwise from the West) on the Walloon provinces of Hainaut, Walloon Brabant, Liège and Luxembourg in Belgium, and the French depart ...

(

Gedinne Gedinne (; wa, Djedene) is a municipality of Wallonia located in the province of Namur, Belgium. On 1 January 2006 the municipality had 4,405 inhabitants. The total area is , giving a population density of . It is situated in the Ardennes eas ...

commune). The wooded plateau is covered by the ''bois de Saint-Jean'' on the Belgian side, named after the stream that crosses the border from south to north, and by the ''bois des Haies'' on the French side, probably taking its name from the

beech trees Beech (''Fagus'') is a genus of deciduous trees in the family Fagaceae, native to temperate Europe, Asia, and North America. Recent classifications recognize 10 to 13 species in two distinct subgenera, ''Engleriana'' and ''Fagus''. The ''Engl ...

(French: ''hêtres'') which are one of the dominant species here together with

oak An oak is a tree or shrub in the genus ''Quercus'' (; Latin "oak tree") of the beech family, Fagaceae. There are approximately 500 extant species of oaks. The common name "oak" also appears in the names of species in related genera, notably ''L ...

and

spruce A spruce is a tree of the genus ''Picea'' (), a genus of about 35 species of coniferous evergreen trees in the family Pinaceae, found in the northern temperate and boreal (taiga) regions of the Earth. ''Picea'' is the sole genus in the subfami ...

. During the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, the wooded area of Croix Scaille was a hotbed of

maquis Maquis may refer to: Resistance groups * Maquis (World War II), predominantly rural guerrilla bands of the French Resistance * Spanish Maquis, guerrillas who fought against Francoist Spain in the aftermath of the Spanish Civil War * The network ...

resistance in the Ardennes. The Tour du Millénaire, which was erected in 2001, has 243 steps and enables a panoramic view of the Belgian and French Ardennes. The original wooden structure rotted and was dismantled in 2008 before being rebuilt in metal in 2012. Plateaus of Europe Mountains under 1000 metres Mountains and hills of the Ardennes (Belgium) Mountains and hills of the Ardennes (France) Landforms of Namur (province) Landforms of Ardennes (department) Belgium–France border