Hoge Veluwe National Park

The Hoge Veluwe National Park, the main attraction in this very popular tourist area (easily reached on the A 12 expressway), lies between Arnhem and Apeldoorn, with entrances at Schaarsbergen on the south, Otterlo (northwest) and Hoenderloo (northeast). With a total area of 5,500 hectares/13,750 acres, the National Park is the largest continuous nature reserve in the Netherlands (fully enclosed). In the wooded area to the north are a sculpture park and the Kröller-Müller Museum.

The estate and hunting reserve of Hoge Veluwe were made over by Mr and Mrs Kröller-Müller, both art-lovers and nature-lovers, to the Hoge Veluwe National Park Foundation in 1935. They had previously bought the property to save this almost completely unspoiled area from development for industry. Anton Kröller was a successful businessman who had made his money in shipping, the North American grain trade and mining in Spain and North Africa. His wife Helene (nee Müller) devoted herself to building up one of the largest private art collections in the Netherlands.

The Hoge Veluwe, the best preserved part of the Veluwe, is a large area of sandy soil which was given its present form during the Ice Age. Its featureless expanses of dunes, interspersed with heath and woodland, are interrupted in the south and east by moraines between 80 and 100m (260 and 330ft) high formed during the second-last ice age (the Saale/Riss glacial). This was an area of vast forests, patches of which were cleared for cultivation during the Middle Ages. Expanses of heath were left, grazed by large flocks of sheep, and the heath was cut for use in fertilizing the soil. The sand was blown off these bare patches, sometimes burying whole villages; dunes were built up from drift sand (e.g. the France Berg) and some areas were reduced to wasteland. In the 19th century reforestation schemes were launched in order to prevent the drifting of sand. Some depressions were filled with rainwater, forming lakes, mostly in the Deelense Veld (e.g. the Deelense Was).

The Hoge Veluwe is partly wooded and partly heathland. In addition to the plantations of conifers (mainly pines) in the southern and northeastern parts of the National Park there are red oaks (originally from North America), rhododendrons - particularly in the sculpture park and around St Hubertus lake - and deciduous trees. Particularly striking are the old and bizarrely shaped pine trees and the juniper bushes which have grown naturally.

The best shows of heather in summer are in the dry Oud-Reemster Veld (along with mosses and pampas grass) and the damp Deelense Veld (along with bell heather).

From observation points in the center and northwest of the National Park visitors can watch native animals including red deer, roe deer and wild pigs as well as moufflon (wild sheep from Sardinia and Corsica). In winter a variety of birds can be heard all over the park - marigold finches, titmice, chaffinches, bramblings, woodpeckers, jays, magpies and thrushes. The best plan is to start the tour of the park from De Aanschouw, the visitor center, where you are offered a wide range of information about the National Park and can rent a bicycle free of charge. It is also possible to hire riding horses, and there are facilities for langlauf skiing in winter. From mid September to mid October, the rutting season of the red deer and moufflon, access is restricted. It is forbidden to feed the animals. The removal of plants, the picking of flowers and the breaking of branches are, of course, prohibited.