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Thursday, December 7, 2023 at 10:39 am
Cycling tourism We all like to dream of beautiful cycling holidays, high alpine passes and remote cycling destinations. It’s not surprising, because the grass always seems greener on the other side. However, you don’t have to go far to ride beautiful bikes, there is a lot of beauty to be seen in the Netherlands. For this Cycling This winter we are looking for the most beautiful cycling route in the Netherlands.
The slopes of southern Limburg, the rich nature of the Veluwe River, or the rocks of Drenthe? Just a selection of some of the highlights of Dutch cycling. You may not find high mountains there, but our country is still home to many beautiful things that you can visit by bike.
We will search with our readers for the most beautiful cycling route in the Netherlands. Ten different methods, submitted by WielerFlits readers, will be discussed in the coming months. In the new year, you can vote for the most beautiful unofficial cycling route in the Netherlands.
Endless forests
While the first two runs in this series were on the road, the third nomination is a gravel road. And Not Just Any One: The Green Divide by Irwin Seekins. When Seekins moved to Arnhem, he quickly discovered the abundance of green spaces to be found in the middle of our country. This led to a project to combine as many of these nature reserves as possible into one road: the Green Divide.
The concept of the route is simple: cycle from Naarden to Zwolle on as many unpaved paths as possible, for a total distance of over 297 kilometres. “We have a lot of forests in the Netherlands and they are really very beautiful. They just keep going. Also, by the way, are those altimeters. There’s not a lot at once, but it’s painful. It’s a wonderful and challenging way to discover Holland”.
The route consists of two parts: the Heuvelrug section and the Veluwe Divide, over the nature reserves of the same name. By ten kilometers Clutches (You can connect the roads and drive the entire green gap,’ said Seekins. Finally, to be able to bike on the road during the annual Crown Estates closure, there is the brown divider (a nod to the autumn colors in the forest during that period).
The track has been steadily gaining popularity in recent years, which is why Jan Bakker decided to introduce the track. “There’s a lot of unpaved land, beautiful woods, moors, and lots of nice places for coffee and apple pies along the way,” he explains his choice. We couldn’t sum up the Green Line much better, although the route deserves a few more words than that.
The route starts at Naarden-Bussum station, where the first unpaved strip follows after a few kilometers. Several nature reserves – mainly heathlands – around Gooi make up the first part of the trail. You can cycle via Tafelbergheide and Westerheide and along the Laarderwasmeer in the southern direction.
The route continues through the forests surrounding Lage Vuursche, crosses the Soesterberg Air Base and from there enters the Utrechtse Heuvelrug National Park. From the beginning, the route passes over the Utrechtsi Hovelrug moraine, but from there it also passes through the national park of the same name.
Here you’ll find some of the more challenging slopes and one of the highlights of the route: the famous Let de Stigterpad, according to many, one of the most beautiful cobblestone trails in central Holland. Shortly afterwards you’ll find the perfect coffee stop in Amerongen, after around 70km, in the form of cycling café De Proloog.
After you leave Utrechtse Heuvelrug behind you via Grebbeberg, it’s time for a ten kilometer walk Clutches Along the Rhine River, after which it heads to the Veluwe near Renkum and remains more than two-thirds of the way.
Here too there is nature reserve after nature reserve that you pass through. You can pass through the Ginkelse Heide, cycle through the Warnsborn region, drive through Deelerwoud and traverse Veluwezoom, to name just a few of dozens of nature reserves.
Through the Hoenderloo Forest, you can set the route for the western part of the Veluwe around Ermelo, before arriving at Kroondomein Het Loo. Please note: Large portions of this are closed in the fall, so you must choose the Brown Divide Road.
The route finally takes you through a few nature reserves such as the Tongerense Heide, the municipal forests of Epe and the Zwolse Bos, via the IJssel, to the Grote Markt of Zwolle. Then you have almost three hundred kilometers behind you, of which more than 190 are unpaved. A challenging journey, but full of Dutch natural beauty.
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