Sallandse Heuvelrug National Park

Sallandse Heuvelrug National Park is a national park in the Dutch province of Overijssel, located between the townships of Hellendoorn and Holten. Hills give a landscape a special charm, certainly in a flat country like the Netherlands. And that is what is special about the De Sallandse Heuvelrug National Park in Overijssel. It has something of being abroad, where the horizon is never straight. You can see this national park from far away.

Because in the Netherlands something is quickly called a mountain, the Sallandse Heuvelrug consists of "mountains" such as the Hellendoornse Berg, Haarlerberg, Holterberg, the Sprengenberg, and the Koningsbelt. This last one is the highest, rising 75.5 m above sea level. But it's not even about the height, but rather about the gradient, which gives the forest paths and heath fields something extra. The Sallandse Heuvelrug is a 5000-hectare area perfect for hiking and cycling tours with surprising views. Around 2700 hectares of this, south of the Nijverdal—Raalte road, form the national park.

Understand
The Sallandse Heuvelrug (Salland Hill Ridge) is one of the hill ridges in the Netherlands that has formed under the force of glaciers during the Saalian, some 150,000 years ago. It contains some of the higher points of the country north of the major rivers, coming in at 75 m above mean sea level.

Formation
The moraine formed during the Salian, the second-last ice age some 150,000 years ago. Preceding it, rivers, specifically the Rhine, had carved up the landscape and deposited thick layers of sand, stones and thinner layers of clay. During the Salian, glaciers stretching down from the North Pole pushed these layers into hills and valleys. The glaciers of the last ice age, the Weichsalian, never reached the Netherlands. Instead, they stretched into the modern-day North Sea, leaving the Netherlands at the foot of these massive mounds of ice. Air-bound sand was blown north, and deposited at the permafrost-covered footings of these glaciers. As the permafrost slowly melted away, it formed dry valleys in its wake.

During the Holocene (the past 11,700 years), the landscape warmed up and became covered in trees. Before the Mediaeval period, this landscape was left mostly undisturbed. As the population increased during the Mediaeval period, though, these trees were cut down en masse for lumber, and the freed up land became grazing grounds for sheep and goats, and the top layers of sod were removed to be used as fertiliser on farms.

Landscape
Ever since the Mediaeval period, the landscape has mostly consisted of heath fields, with occasional sand drifts. Forests, mostly ones consisting of needled trees, have been replanted since the end of the 19th century to somewhat control these sand drifts. Since the end of the twentieth century, chunks of this have been returned to heathlands, as to preserve the diversity in nature and cultural history of the area.

The Salland Hill Ridge is a notable feature on the horizon of central Overijssel, and it in return offers panoramic views over much of central Overijssel. Its forests, by Dutch definitions, are far-reaching.

Flora and fauna
The Sallandse Heuvelrug is home to several species of animals that are extremely rare if not non-existent elsewhere in the country. The park contains the country's last remaining population of Black grouse (Lyrurus tetrix, Dutch: Korhoen), and is a breeding ground for the European nightjar (Caprimulgus europaeus, Dutch: Nachtzwaluw). The national park sees about eighty different species of bird use its land as a breeding ground, including the European stonechat.

Aside from birds, the park also is home to lizard populations, most notably the common lizard (Zootocoa vivipara) and sand lizard (Lacerta agilis). The wetter parts of the park are populated with many common frogs (Rana temporaria, Dutch: Bruine kikker), northern crested newts (Triturus cristatus, Dutch: Kamsalamander) and smooth newts (Lissotriton vulgaris, Dutch: Kleine watersalamander). The heath, meanwhile, is home to the slow worm (Anguis fragilis, Dutch: Hazelworm).

As for mammals, the usual deer, foxes and badgers are commonly seen. Members of the Mustelidae family are also common, among them beech martens (Martes foina, Dutch: Steenmarter), European polecats (Mustela putorius, Dutch: Bunzing), common weasels (Mustela nivalis, Dutch: Wezel) and stoats (Mustela erminea, Dutch: Hermelijn). In addition, Scottish highlanders and sheep are used to graze parts of the landscape.

The landscape of the moraine is dominated by the needle leaved trees planted on former heath fields since the 19th century, mostly consisting of Scots pine, Douglas fir and Larch. Locally groups of birch, oak and beech trees may cover the landscape. In terms of shrubbery, the park's heathlands are covered with heather and common juniper. Lingonberry and blueberry also cover notable swaths of land.

Get in
The park is surrounded by so-called steunpunten (support points). These usually consist of parking for your car, and tend to be near to hiking and cycling route interchanges. Going by the hours of the clock, these are:
 * Further into the park, near the Noetselerberg, is an "invalidenparkeerplaats", a parking facility for the handicapped and disabled, as well as those above the age of 65. Parking here, does require a day- or year permit, which can be acquired at the aforementioned Buitencentrum.
 * Further into the park, near the Noetselerberg, is an "invalidenparkeerplaats", a parking facility for the handicapped and disabled, as well as those above the age of 65. Parking here, does require a day- or year permit, which can be acquired at the aforementioned Buitencentrum.

By car
The park's visitor centre is on the N35 between Nijverdal and Raalte. This road has been developed as a motorway between Enschede and Almelo. A few kilometres after it becomes a country road again, Nijverdal follows. The NP begins behind the town.

Coming from the south (Arnhem), first take the A50 (direction Zwolle), at the Beekbergen interchange take the A1 to Deventer and at exit 24 (Deventer Oost) take the N348 to Raalte. When the N348 meets the N35 in Raalte, you turn right in the direction of Nijverdal and follow this road until the visitor centre appears on your right.

By public transport
When it comes to public transport, the park is best travelled to by train, with two viable entry points.

From Nijverdal
Nijverdal offers access to the north side of the park. In the 2024 timetable, trains are operated by Blauwnet, and run from Zwolle to Enschede, also stopping at Almelo. Note that both a fast (intercity) and slow (sprinter) train operate on this route, with a frequency of three trains per hour (two slow, one fast) in either direction.

From Enschede, take either the Blauwnet Intercity (28 minutes) or Sprinter (38 minutes), both bound for Zwolle. The intercity typically departs from platform 3 at :31. At :04 and :34, the Sprinter (slow train) departs from platform 4A. In Almelo, all services to Nijverdal depart from platform 4. The Intercity departs at :50, the Sprinters at :01 and :31. All travel times from Almelo round to ten minutes.

From Zwolle, the Blauwnet services to Nijkerk depart from platforms 8 (Sprinter) and 9 (Intercity). The slow services depart the station at :22 and :51, taking 20 to 25 minutes to get to Nijverdal. The intercity always takes 20 minutes, departing at :39.

From Nijverdal station, you can take a bus to the park. Bus 513 to Haarle takes five minutes to get you to the Buitencentrum bus stop, and departs from the train station. The bus platforms are located on the north side of the station. The bus does run quite infrequently though, departing once every hour and a half during weekdays only. The walking distance to the station isn't that long though (18 minutes via Grotestraat, ). Alternatively, you can rent bicycles from the train station's bike sheds using the OV-Fiets scheme.

From Holten
Holten connects to the park from the south. In the 2024 timetable, trains here are operated by NS, which serves the stations with sprinter trains. These can be taken from Deventer (east) or Almelo (west). From Deventer, these depart for Almelo every half hour at :05 and :35. The train usually departs from platform 1, but may be diverted onto platform 3 occasionally. From Almelo, the train departs for Deventer at :23, and continues to Apeldoorn at :53. Both trains depart from platform 3. From either Almelo or Deventer, the journey takes about a quarter of an hour.

Holten also isn't located on the edge of the park, but some ways outside of it. OV-Fiets is also available at this station. The journey to the Natuurmuseum Holterberg takes about seven minutes by bike, or approximately 25 minutes by foot. Signage to the museum and park exists, and is as straightforward as following the Beukenlaan straight out of the station.

Fees and permits
The park, like the visitor centre, is free of charge.

Get around
As of the 2024 timetable, there are no buses or other means of public transit crossing the park. The easiest way to cover ground in the park, is by bike. The park is accessible by conventional bike, but for the more sandy routes, an ATB/mountain bike is recommended. Prices for a conventional bike tend to lie around €15 per bike per day, ATBs for around €25. Whilst you could theoretically use bikes from a bike sharing scheme like OV-Fiets, which is available at pretty much every train station, their availability and states of maintenance tend to vary a lot. It's therefore recommended to rent a bike from an actual bicycle rental company or bicycle vendor. Listed below are some of these in and around the Sallandse Heuvelrug. It's often best practise to arrange bike rentals per email or phone beforehand rather than turning up and possibly being let down.



Do

 * Hiking, cycling and mountain biking are all popular activities for the National Park. The official routes, as well as complimentary routes for the wider landscapes of Overijssel are listed most comprehensively on the park's Dutch website, where the routes are subdivided into hiking routes (wandelroutes), ATB routes (mountainbikeroutes), cycling routes (fietsroutes), car routes (autoroutes) and child-friendly routes (kinderroutes). They also list route overviews for other destinations managed by Natuurmonumenten, Staatsbosbeheer and Landschap Overijssel, found elsewhere in the Netherlands.

Buy
There are no shops or facilities outside of restaurants and hotels within or directly around the park. The best place to stock up on things would be in Nijverdal, Rijssen or Holten - whichever is most convenient for your journey to the park.

Sleep
Below is a list of the hotels, B&Bs and campsites in and around the park. There are, however, many more in the surrounding towns if any of the ones below don't meet your demands.



Stay safe
In terms of dangers, there are few. When going hiking or cycling in the park, be sure to pack enough to eat and drink along the way. The park itself is quite dry for Dutch terms, and at the peak of summer, you will be thankful for having packed some water.

In addition, as the wolf returns into the Netherlands, it has been spotted on the Sallandse Heuvelrug as well, but does not use the park or surrounding area as its habitat. The chance of encountering wolves here is slim, but existent. If the odds are in your favour, then keep your distance from the wolf and scare it away should it try to approach you. Dutch wolves are becoming somewhat accustomed to human interaction, which proves an issue, so it's in everyone's interest to keep wolves scared of humans.

Go next
Similar landscapes exist in the Netherlands, though not all of them are national parks.
 * The Utrechtse Heuvelrug is a moraine between the cities of Utrecht and Amersfoort. The Utrecht counterpart though, is more shaped by humans in recent history as its geography makes it a lot more essential in protecting Holland from invaders.
 * The Veluwe contains several national parks, some of which are the oldest of the Netherlands, and is overall one of the more developed moraines of the Netherlands. The topography there has been used to power pre-industrialisation industry with water mills, and has since the 17th century become somewhat notable for the many rural estates that have shaped its ridges.
 * The Hondsrug in Drenthe on the contrary, is best known for its development in prehistory, with Hunebedden (Dolmens) once dominating the landscape. After being repurposed for building material, the massive prehistorical burial structures have become a bit of a rarer sight in the region, but are protected against future demolition. The region isn't a national park, but is the only geopark of the Benelux.
 * If you're tired of the staggering elevations of 75 metres over mean sea level, then Weerribben-Wieden might be your next destination. This national park in the north of Overijssel is the largest connected fenland of Western Europe. The water-dominated region therefore enjoys special protection from the EU as a result.