View Full Version : Hike through the Veluwe or Utrechtse Heuvelrug? (NL)
Pantalaimon
26-01-2009, 20:43
Hi there!
For a time now, I have the idea in the back of my head to hike through the Veluwe or Utrechtse Heuvelrug(The 2 large(st) forests in the Netherlands) from one end to the other.
Today I was walking on the Utrechtse Heuvelrug. While thinking of preparations for my Sweden trip in June, I connected the idea of preparing me/my kit with the idea of hiking across the Veluwe/Utrechtse Heuvelrug and thought that there are more bushcrafty people in the Netherlands(or somewhere else) who probably like the idea too.
My raw idea was a hike from 4 to 7 days (U. Heuvelrug would be shorter). Not more than 5 hours walking a day (there are plenty more things to do in de woods! ;)) Not too many planning (going where your feet takes you or interesting spots).
One reason for me to do this, besides the obvious ones, is to learn what I need to carry (or can replace) for water and food etc.
What do you think of this idea? Do you like to join? Tell me! :cool:
I've been thinking of similar things, the biggest problem is probbably finding a place to legally sleep.(not a problem if you don't mind a bit of risk)
The longest route possible would probbably be from hilversum to zwolle, only near wageningen, there is about 10 km of non-forrest.
Just measured it on google earth and it should be about 125 km...
Pantalaimon
26-01-2009, 22:20
Hi Stijn!
Well, from Zwolle to Wageningen is the longest route indeed. I thought of something from Nunspeet to Arnhem(north-south). Probably 60 km in straight lines.
There are some paalkampeerplaatsen where we can put some tarps up, but I like to seek some quiet places where we can make some shelters from natural materials. I know a beautiful spot for a debris hut for example (made my first one there, and am proud of that). And on almost every legal campsite campfires aren't allowed. When avoiding weekends, it's possible to walk all day without seeing more than 5 people. Depending on weather and distance to a city/town. So you don't have to care about being caught for wildcamping.
Any other things whats holds you back of joining this trip? :D
squantrill
27-01-2009, 11:40
Hi Stijn!
Well, from Zwolle to Wageningen is the longest route indeed. I thought of something from Nunspeet to Arnhem(north-south). Probably 60 km in straight lines.
There are some paalkampeerplaatsen where we can put some tarps up, but I like to seek some quiet places where we can make some shelters from natural materials. I know a beautiful spot for a debris hut for example (made my first one there, and am proud of that). And on almost every legal campsite campfires aren't allowed. When avoiding weekends, it's possible to walk all day without seeing more than 5 people. Depending on weather and distance to a city/town. So you don't have to care about being caught for wildcamping.
Any other things whats holds you back of joining this trip? :D
Id be interested to.. not sure about a week off work yet though!
Pantalaimon
27-01-2009, 17:01
Nice!
What about (the end of) May? Spring!
The woods are not yet crowded with the summer visitors(and mosquito's :D )
And we have the chance to really use the shelters.
Plus getting off work is much easier ;)
ehm I can go in the weekends and in school holidays...(there is one from 14-22 february) or the first week of may.....
using natural shelters is not only great fun, but also allot harder to spot(boswachters) and an A-frame shelter filled with leaves is also a bit warmer than a hammock.(and if you cheat by using a tarp and then leaves, it can be done in 5 mins)
I think we should probbably discuss it further via pb or mail as 1 wild camping is illegal and 2 I can read english no problem, but I suck at writing in english.....
squantrill
27-01-2009, 21:19
ehm I can go in the weekends and in school holidays...(there is one from 14-22 february) or the first week of may.....
using natural shelters is not only great fun, but also allot harder to spot(boswachters) and an A-frame shelter filled with leaves is also a bit warmer than a hammock.(and if you cheat by using a tarp and then leaves, it can be done in 5 mins)
I think we should probbably discuss it further via pb or mail as 1 wild camping is illegal and 2 I can read english no problem, but I suck at writing in english.....
Syijn your english is perfect trust me I know ;)
Here's a list of natuurcampings in Gelderland:
http://staatsbosbeheer.nl/Overnachten/Kampeerterreinen/Zoekresultaten.aspx?campingTyp e=&province={0ADB082A-5196-4368-BAA7-D2D02D0F6238}
It would be possible to make a route so that we can stay on one of those campsites every night, then we can also make a fire...
Though it is less "free" than just walk southward untill we're tired.
Off course a combination is also possible...
I think we should probbably discuss it further via pb or mail as 1 wild camping is illegal ...
I'll echo what Stijn said guys, please keep it legal on the forum.
Thank you ;)
Pantalaimon
28-01-2009, 20:48
Okay, Stijn, you said the first week of May. That's fine by me!
Squantrill (Simon was it?) What do you think about it?
mortalmerlin
03-02-2009, 16:53
I would be interested in joining too. 1st week of may sounds good.
squantrill
03-02-2009, 20:16
Okay, Stijn, you said the first week of May. That's fine by me!
Squantrill (Simon was it?) What do you think about it?
Are we looking at the first whole week or the first weekend in May ?
Long weekend no problem a week for me right now is going to be a bit akward..
re: pm
Simon
mortalmerlin
03-02-2009, 20:34
Are we looking at the first whole week or the first weekend in May ?
Long weekend no problem a week for me right now is going to be a bit akward..
re: pm
Simon
A week might be a problem for me to take off too.
But maybe it's possible we could go along for x number of days and leave the group half way though or something like that?
Pantalaimon
03-02-2009, 20:45
A week might be a problem for me to take off too.
But maybe it's possible we could go along for x number of days and leave the group half way though or something like that?
I just was typing that proposal :D
you're of course also welcome :)
So, shall we begin the trip on Friday then? Includes a long weekend for you the whole Friday?
we could also start by crossing the veluwe in the weekend and do the utrechtse heuvelrug during the week or other way round...
or stay at one spot(natuurcamping?) in the weekend so we can have a fire and make some jerky and stuff and do the hike in the week...
Marsdijk
08-02-2009, 20:34
maybe try also the website : http://www.kampeerclub.nl/terreinen/leusden.php
squantrill
09-02-2009, 11:20
we could also start by crossing the veluwe in the weekend and do the utrechtse heuvelrug during the week or other way round...
or stay at one spot(natuurcamping?) in the weekend so we can have a fire and make some jerky and stuff and do the hike in the week...
Im up for that ;) I just have my naatuur camping book in Ill take a look but remeber most of these campings maybe shut and we will need to approach the bos wachter niels and I had to do the same for kuinre when we stayed there over a long weekend
Simon
Mmmmm, I'm interested. Same for me with work: leaning more towards taking friday and monday off, a whole week is too much.
Remark: I ususally don't walk much with a rucksack, so this will be a good test for me too. Might also mean that I won't be the quickest :D
Pantalaimon
24-02-2009, 08:51
Nice! More people! :D
So it seems that the trip starts at the 1st of May?
so, any more ideas regarding the place we'll start?
if we'll start near hilversum, we can have the first night legal at austerlitz, then we could probbably be near wageningen at the end of the weekend and be near zwolle at the end of the week. so anyone who can only stay for the weekend can get on a train at wageningen.
another posibility would be to start in either zwolle, Arnhem or wageningen and split up at Apeldoorn...
feel free to criticize:deal:
Pantalaimon
18-03-2009, 10:39
you're really planning to walk across the utrechtse heuvelrug AND the veluwe? I thought it was this or that. It won't be easy, walking one week >20km a day with a backpack full of gear, but it's okay with me! :D
But because the majority of the group will stay just a long weekend, shall we walk from North to South? From Nunspeet to Arnhem?
I'm quite familiar with the area under Nunspeet. We can start at 't Harde(village next to Nunspeet, train station). If we go south, it will be a very variable walk with different sorts of land: heathland, 'kwel' (clear water source!) and of course woodland.
ok nunspeet sounds good if we walk less, there's more time to gather food and find water...
In may there's really alot of food to be found, is ther some fishable water on the route?
Pantalaimon
18-03-2009, 14:32
Not that I know of. I'm not really a fisher :P
In the Leuvenumse/Hierdense Beek should be some fish, but thats on the western parts near Harderwijk. I think next friday I'll take a look.
edit:
Been there!
I haven't seen any fish! It's quite clear water, not very deep at the moment/spot though. But it still runs through some 'civilised' areas, so there can be some pollution from fertilizers or sewer overflows. But that's probably minimal.
Maybe next year I'll be able to test some waters on pollution.
hey, as it wil be in about two weeks from now, maybe it's time to get some more detailed planning done.
Where exactly will we meet and at what time?
We will need some pretty detailed maps of the area(I allready have a compass)
As the veluwe is the almost only location in the netherlands that's not below sea level, water will be an issue, some refill locations will be needed and a ceartain carrying capacity per person would also be handy.
so'.....
like to hear something again:You_Rock_
Pantalaimon
14-04-2009, 21:28
The bicycle-map is the map that covers the whole Veluwe. It isn't detailed like the Staatsbosbeheer/Falklandplan maps, but that isn't always necessary. Staatsbosbeheer has maps from Nunspeet and the middle of the Veluwe. For resupplies there are supermarkets in some villages.
We could start at Nunspeet, than we could decide which direction (western/eastern part) we could go to.
What about starting at friday 10am? squantrill/simon, mortalmerlin, thijzzz, what about you?
squantrill
15-04-2009, 20:05
The bicycle-map is the map that covers the whole Veluwe. It isn't detailed like the Staatsbosbeheer/Falklandplan maps, but that isn't always necessary. Staatsbosbeheer has maps from Nunspeet and the middle of the Veluwe. For resupplies there are supermarkets in some villages.
We could start at Nunspeet, than we could decide which direction (western/eastern part) we could go to.
What about starting at friday 10am? squantrill/simon, mortalmerlin, thijzzz, what about you?
Afraid Ill have to cancel job changing again!! have fun though guys real shame this is almost by back door ;)
Simon
ah that sucks mate, hope we'll see you in again soon at another event though!
10 o'clock is fine for me! Shall we exchange personal details like phone no's. etc via PM?
I'll come from the south (Oss), so if there's anyone I can pick up, just let me know!
mortalmerlin
20-04-2009, 18:39
Friday 10am sounds good.
Is the plan to go from Nunspeet towards Arnhem then? I kind of need to know where I will arrange collection from :)
I will PM you (Pantalaimon) my contact details as well.
I've just got off the phone with Pantalaimon and MortalMerlin, and this is all the info I've heard: (please correct me if I'm wrong)
* Pantalaimon knows the area and camped out there before, so that's perfect. The hike starts in Nunspeet and goes in the direction of Arnhem. We spend the first night rougly in the area around Vierhouten. After that, there's no set plan, just enjoy the hike and see how far we go depending on fitness etc.
* MortalMerlin is coming from Leuven, Belgium and can pick me up (in Oss) and Pantalaimon (in Houten). :You_Rock_ Then we drive to Nunspeet.
(Mortalmerlin: That's a 4 hour drive. If you want, you're welcome to spend the night in Oss so you can get up bright and shiny. Warning: it's Senseo or instant coffee here :D )
Stijn: where do you live, and do you have transport?
* Food & water: might be the most practical if everyone brings their own?
My GF is really bummed that she has to work and can't come....she'll survive :D
Ps: if you go to www.marktplaats.nl now, you can get a "travel all you want on 1 day"-ticket for only € 17,95. Takes 4-5 days to get delivered to your door, so be quick!
@thijs: transportation is no problem for me as long as we start and end somewhere near a train station.
water will be a bit of a challenge though as you'll need at least 2l pp pd and that means either carry alot of weight or resupply often.......
Pantalaimon
22-04-2009, 14:33
Great!
The weather report says that it won't be cold, but on Friday a bit of rain. Nothing too extreme it seems. :)
Last bit of planning:
About the food and water: we could take enough for Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Also we could resupply on Saturday in Elspeet for Saturday and Sunday(=stores closed). For water, we could always knock on someone's door :p
What are your idea's?
Martin: how long can/will you be staying?
hej, as it's getting near friday, I have another great question: where exactly will we meet? At the train station in nunspeet? and Panthalaimon, I hope you can get a map? then I'll bring my compass.
And just to be shure, it would be nice if everyone has about 2-3 litre water carrying capacity as it wouldn't be nice to have to refill every hour XD
mortalmerlin
27-04-2009, 21:04
Martin: how long can/will you be staying?
I was planning on staying for the friday, saturday and sunday but it is always possible I get called away for work.
Do we know for sure if we can use fire to cook? Trying to fit everything in for 3 days is proving tricky so it would be cool if I could leave the stove out :)
Pantalaimon
27-04-2009, 22:08
Just besides the train station is a good spot. There's a "kiss n ride" spot. I'll have some maps with me.
And indeed, don't underestimate the importance of water. It will be about 20 degrees Celsius max. I'm thinking of resupplying at Saturday in Elspeet, so we don't have to take food/water for 3 days with us. What do you guys think?
You can leave your stove at home. It won't be quiet in the woods because of the holidays, but most tourists probably won't go very deep in the forests in the evening/early morning. :)
mortalmerlin
27-04-2009, 22:16
A re-supply would be great :)
Does anyone know if there somewhere to park long term (3 days) near the station?
Guys, I will not be joining you: I've had headaches for some weeks now (never have them normally) and it's been getting worse last week and this week. I wake up every morning at 5 with a pounding head, and it lastst all day. Thank God for Ibuprofen. The doc says I should keep rest for a week, and though I looked foward to the hike, I'm pretty sure warm weather + hiking = more trouble. So I'll have to bail out.
Hope you guys have fun!
PS: recently there have been some fires on the Veluwe, take this in account when choosing your overnight spot!!
Pantalaimon
28-04-2009, 17:51
That's a pity!
Try to be as much outdoor as you can, the fresh air heals! (in most cases)
See you another time then, I hope you get better soon.
@thijzz: to bad mate, hope you'll get over it soon.
Just hope for some sort of unexpected magical recovery though :P
@mortalmerlin: I'll bring a little butane burner "just in case" as it doesn't really weight anything, it is a bit noisy though.
Pantalaimon
04-05-2009, 20:31
Well, we're back home!
When Martin and me were in Nunspeet, Stijn was there also early. So we did start early. We've walked around Vierhouten, visited the Verscholen Dorp ('disguised village'), a place in the woods where Jews and other people were hiding for the nazi's in WW2. We walked at a fair speed, which we would later regret. After something more than 15 km, we made camp. After seeing Martin lying in his hammock, I became a bit jealous ;).
The next day we went to Elspeet for supplies. We came through some heathland with old gardens from long past days. The first blisters were formed when we walked to the supermarked. There got Martin a call that he had to return to home for work. We ate something and I bought the bivvybag I borrowed. Nice peace of kit! Then we said goodby to Martin as he walked back to Nunspeet. Stijn and I walked to the forests of the crown. Quite unknown in the Netherlands, there were some nice hills. We saw a good amount of deer, and not so many boars as I expected. Our camp was in a nice 'big' (Dutch standards) beech part. When we went for an evening walk at nightfall, we'd meet another pair of guys who thought it was also nice to spent a night in the woods. Another more then 15 km with our footsteps on it.
Sunday, we really felt our blisters. But we came through some places that don't felt Dutch: slopes with beautiful green grass and farms in the middle of the forest. The day was quite hard, so we had dinner and relaxed in a small village. After that another hour of walking and problems with finding a place to sleep: trapped on a road with fences on both sides. No campfire, but Stijn's burner brought forth some hot chocolate before crawling into our sleeping bags. We had walked more than at the beginning was planned, this day was 23 more km closer to our goal.
Monday started cold. Our bodies felt the day before. This day it was really stumbling to Arnhem. Sunday, Stijn had the plan to catch a bus at the edge of Arnhem, but he didn't. We walked through Arnhem straight to a sidewalk cafe for a beer. At 13:30 we could let our feet rest there.
We walked more than 70 km in 4 small days. Not very much maybe, but neither of us had many experience with hiking. Thereby, my normal hikingshoes were damaged so I had to walk on new sandals. Stijn also learned a lesson to buy a good pair of shoes ;)
It was a nice experience and I have learned a lot. Even with a lot of blisters, I could say it was successful.
Now I have the plan to walk it in 1 day. :cool:
mortalmerlin
05-05-2009, 08:42
It was great to meet you both and a shame I got called back :( Still it was nice to get at least one night in the woods. The walk back upto Nunspeet was nice and even better my car hadn't been towed. Hope the blister plasters helped.
It was a great weekend, never tought the veluwe was so big (seems small though becouse it's divided into many small rectangulair pieces.)
I really like(d) the spot where we camped on saturday, nice beech forrest with allot of deer and boars and enough firewood within reach
Now I just discovered on google earth that we could've easilly walked throug the deelerwoud if we had just gone over the fence as you suggested:D
have to buy better shoos next time though:rolleyes: blisters can be pretty painfull:D
squantrill
05-05-2009, 20:23
Guys sounds like I missed a nice weekend not sure I could have managed the 70km though getting old you see ;)
Maybe if there is another weekend ? then ill try to get there this time!!
Simon
born2roam
05-05-2009, 20:28
thanx for a nice read guys! And for some extra info on a planned trip in the future, time permitting....I still have the idea to walk from de Utrechtse Heuvelrug to Het Zwolsche Bos (Heerde)... the long way but haven't found time yet to figure out logistics with water...
What was the navigation tools used? Google Earth or maps too or?
Grtz Johan
Pantalaimon
06-05-2009, 00:44
haha, I'm still sitting here with blisters and you are ready for a new trip :D
We navigated on maps of Staatsbosbeheer(Nunspeet and Midden-Veluwe) and a cyclingmap with good navigating points. Only the south-west part is a bit unknown on maps.
And indeed, the spot of saturday was really nice. Beech with the leaves of last fall on the ground, and young green leaves in the trees. Looked a bit fluorescent.
Pantalaimon
06-05-2009, 01:01
Guys sounds like I missed a nice weekend not sure I could have managed the 70km though getting old you see ;)
Maybe if there is another weekend ? then ill try to get there this time!!
Simon
too bad you we're not there. Then we would have gone slower = less blisters ;):lmao:
Thanks again for the blister plasters and bivvybag Martin. :)
he he
I any one is interested, I can get the phone number of a gamekeeper stationed at Lochem.
And I know that he is very flexible when it comes to wild camping, so long as all the rubbish is cleaned up and the site is not abused. The times I was there it was because of my study, but I'm almost sure that he will be all right with it.
I its located near the Lochemse Golf & Country Club De Graafschap. I have camped there 3 times already and it's a nice bit of pine forest, and its a protected bit of wood so there not allot of people come trough there.
I'll be in Italie from the 19e off June. But If someone wants the number I will send it to you. But it might take some time to get it as my teacher is a bit slow with answering mail :)
Bas