Nederland - Schoorlse Duinen

The Schoorlse Duinen (Schoorl Dunes) is a nature reserve nearby the village of Schoorl. If you walk around it is hard to imagine, but around 1900 the sand still had free play, until Staatsbosbeheer - a Dutch government organization for forestry and the management of nature reserves - started planting trees, not for recreation, but to prevent the dunes burying the villages. Now there is heathlan and forests of pine trees and perennial trees.

The Schoorlse Duinen do have the highest dune (55,4 meters ) and the widest dunes (5 km) of the Netherlands. It also offers some dune lakes, among them the Vogelmeer (Bird Lake).

On a beautiful but freezing winter's day, we walked the so-called roet route (soot trail). This route took us along places which were hit by forest fires in 2009, 2010 and 2011. Fortunately nature is starting to recover slowly, but surely.