Garderen is village in Netherlands, which is famous for the forrest Speulderbos, full of crooked twisting trees, also nicknamed the dancing trees. But Garderen has a lot to offer as there are several nature trails around offering various views.
GETTING THERE
Apeldoorn – 20km (25min)
Amsterdam – 70km (1 hour)
Utrecht – 50km (40min)
There are few various loops around Garderen, so parking depends on selected loop.
You can park somewhere at the village and then walk to the trail.
For Houtdorperveld area, you can park around Paleisweg 21A, 3852 ND Ermelo
For red loop, you can park around Garderenseweg 440, 3852 NM Ermelo
TRAIL NAVIGATION
The trail map is available at trail starts. Sometimes there are additional directional post to point you to the right trail.
All trails are well sign posted by selected colour with arrows. Trail is marked well in both directions.
Official website for more info of the routes HERE Although I was not able to locate all of these routes on this website. The loops in the 3 different hiking areas around Garderen are different from each other so worth to see all of them. If you are limited on time, I suggest to skip the purple trail. If you can choose only one route, then go for the red trail as the “dancing” trees are unique.
RED route – 6km
Nice loop through woods, giving you also taste of the Speulderbos “dancing trees”. One part of the trail has bit of mild hills, but nothing extreme. Very peaceful walk but also very frequented, especially with dog walkers. The trail is very easy forrest trail, between solid ground and bit sandier at places, but overall very easy. This area is supposed to have a lot of wild life (deer and hogs) I have spotted mouse and fox.
SPEULDERBOS – no fixed trail
I would also recommend extending the red loop and getting off the marked trail deeper into the Speulderbos as the forrest is quiete unique with “curly” trees which have impression of dancing trees. You might need additional navigation for this part since there is no marked loop. Same terrain as red loop.
HOUTDORPERVELD blue/yellow/green/orange – 5-10km
Open sandy area with a little bit of woods. Nice to walk in, mostly flat with some walking in the sand. This area has minimum tree coverage. There are several loops at this location and you can certainly combine few of them together to make larger loop for longer hike. Easy flat terrain.
PURPLE route – 10km
Forrest walk with more traditional looking trees. Almost all the way is on dirt path in the woods. Small part on bike path. It is very nice forrest.
Tree coverage: All routes except the ones located in Houtdorperveld are in the forrest. Houtdorperveld is open area with almost no trees.
Geocaching: There are no geocaches on the red trail and Speulderbos. There are some geocaches in the Houtdorperveld and on the purple trail. There is about 100 geocaches around Garderen which are not part of any trail.
Dogs: It is possible to do this route with your dog on leash.
FACILITIES
There are no facilities on the trail as well at the start/finish. There are some restaurants and shops in the villages nearby.
I completed this trail in June 2024. There were some people around on all routes even during week and bad weather. On the red route/Spelderbos is also frequented with MTB bikes. Expect crowds, especially on sunny weekends.
Tip for another hikes in Netherlands
