The views across the Mookerheide are vast.
Mountains and deserts are perfectly walkable in the Netherlands, as the latest walking guide from Roots demonstrates.
Enjoying a fine mountain or desert walk sounds like the stuff of adventurous holidays abroad. Yet that is not necessarily the case, according to the latest walking guide from Roots. A trip overseas is certainly not required. Exotic-feeling landscapes can be found in the Netherlands too, as De mooiste woestijn- en bergwandelingen demonstrates – a collection of seventeen walking routes spread across the country.
Test walk
Although the tropical temperatures during the test walk for this review certainly contribute to a summery holiday feeling, it is under those very conditions something of a shame that there is no refreshing mountain air to be had on the Sint-Jansberg near Plasmolen. In that respect, the Netherlands remains resolutely flat, despite the many bumps that carry the suffix -berg. They are often remnants of former glaciers, as is the case here at the Mookerheide. Short marginal notes draw the walker’s attention to such ‘nature hotspots’. These are not groundbreaking insights, but it is nonetheless pleasing to learn, for example, that the Sint-Jansberg is home to one of the most thriving badger populations in the Netherlands.
Views
The differences in elevation do yield wonderful views, as well as a fair amount of climbing and descending. The highest points are the Kiekberg (77 metres) and the Sint-Maartensberg (66 metres), as the guide notes. It is a pity that the route does not clearly indicate exactly when it passes these points. The views are particularly sweeping across the Mookerheide, but the woodland too looks beautiful thanks to the undulating terrain – which does indeed give a slight sense of being abroad. It is otherwise a pleasantly varied route, crossing heathland, passing through woodland and skirting species-rich meadows. Almost entirely off-road, with two brief stretches along a charming cycle path. The walk follows a waymarked route only occasionally, which is a bonus – it keeps things agreeably quiet. You do need to stay alert for the correct turnings, but the directions are clear. Those with a GPS device can download the relevant files for this route free of charge from the Roots website, making it virtually impossible to get lost. Unfortunately, not all walking junctions are marked on the map, which might have been useful for orientation.
Desert walk
Although most of the walks in the book fall under the ‘mountain’ category – from the Vuurboetsduin on Vlieland to the Gulpdal in Limburg – the desert walks included are arguably more deserving of that label. Drift-sand areas such as the Soesterduinen and the Kootwijkerzand are also known as Atlantic deserts. They are not vast in extent; the forest edge is almost always visible. But in other respects they are just like real deserts, with temperature differences of 50 degrees between day and night, and complete with their own flora and fauna, a selection of which the guide highlights with brief descriptions – as it does for ‘mountain dwellers’. It is enjoyable to seek these out whilst walking, for a richer experience of nature, complementing the marginal hotspot notes. Although drift-sand areas are in fact typically Dutch (90 per cent of Europe’s drift-sand areas are found here), they are certainly well suited to a ‘holiday’ walk. And if that does not appeal, the holiday feeling can just as easily be found on one of the mountain walks.
Paperback, 160 pages, €19