The landscapes of 't Gooi and Eemland
Hilversum, Eemnes, Lage Vuursche
Media city Hilversum ─ the setting for famous and infamous radio and television broadcasts and thus the home of many Dutch celebrities ─ is a bustling village with lots of activity. In the middle of the busy centre of this villa village, you would not expect to find yourself two kilometres away in a rural setting where peace and quiet reign. Because this beautiful part of the Netherlands is a vast heathland area called the Goois Natuurreservaat. As many as 65 separate nature reserves are partly connected here. From Lake Gooimeer to Hollandsche Rading, you can enjoy pure nature over a distance of at least 15 kilometres without encountering any significant buildings. On the eastern side of Hilversum, you cycle mainly through Zuiderheide and a little further north you take in part of Westerheide as you head towards Blaricum. The area is important both geologically and archaeologically. Geologically because Zuiderheide lies on the Utrechtse Heuvelrug, a lateral moraine that rises up to 25 metres above the surrounding landscape. The rolling purple heather thrives on the sandy soil and boulder clay present. The area is relatively high and the wild colourful vegetation is interrupted only by foot and cycle paths. Archaeologists are interested in Zuiderheide because of the many clearly visible burial mounds, which have been named 'Seven Little Mountains'. Just before the junction Eemnesserweg/Oude Postweg ─ where you encounter Theehuis 't Bluk ─ especially towards the north, you can see a number of these 4,000-year-old burial mounds. What is very special is that the moorland around the burial mounds has remained stable all this time. This piece of the Netherlands has been untouched nature for thousands of years and practically unchanged all this time. This is a very rare phenomenon near the urbanised Randstad. An extraordinary ancestral landscape. From hilly moorland to flat polders, a geological legacy from a special period. At this location, in the penultimate ice age, there were the foothills of the land ice, which carved deep valleys into the landscape with its huge mass. The impounded sand was moved and caused the lateral moraines. Through floods, seawater caused sediment to be deposited in the valleys in the following centuries. This eventually created a vast peat and marsh area that was reclaimed in the 13th century. Until then, this area was neither land nor water. Today, therefore, you see endless meadows, separated by long ditches that themselves almost seem to touch the horizon. This is the Eem Valley, of which you see only a small part from Eemnes. Characteristic of this village is the long and dead straight Wakkerendijk, which had to protect Eemnes from floods. Yet Eemnes has experienced periods of high water, within the village itself. But thanks to the Afsluitdijk, the flood barrier that cuts off the former Zuiderzee from the Wadden Sea, devastating floods are unlikely to occur in this area today. In this area, some castles and country houses can be admired that ─ as was common in the Middle Ages ─ were built on higher ground. In other words, on the moraines. Here you will also find the characteristic extensive forests of the Utrechtse Heuvelrug, in places where the former sea water never came and where no sea clay was deposited. A vast primeval forest emerged on this lateral moraine at the time. Here in this wooded area, under the smoke of Baarn, you will find a number of country estates where the wealthy elite once lived. Groeneveld Castle near Baarn is one such stately mansion and was intended in the 17th century as a summer house for wealthy city dwellers, mainly Amsterdammers. On this spot near Groeneveld Castle, the State Forestry Commission's "Buitenplaats voor stad en land", there was a castle of modest size called Drakenburg a few hundred years ago, just north of Groeneveld Castle. This vanished knight's court has a connection to Drakestein castle in Lage Vuursche, hidden in the woods. Drakestein is occupied anno 2024 by Princess Beatrix, former queen of the Netherlands. This premium cycle route has been compiled by our editor: Martin van Rhee
| Directions | Distance | Total distance | |
|
Start: Groest , 1211 EA Hilversum | 40 KM | |
|
From
42
to
73
|
319 M | 0.3 KM | |
| Head north on Groest | 25 M | ||
| Turn right onto Spuisteeg | 87 M | ||
| Turn left onto Kampstraat | 207 M | ||
| You are now at section 73 | 0 M | ||
|
From
73
to
53
|
3370 M | 3.4 KM | |
| Head northeast on Stationstunnel | 220 M | ||
| Turn left onto Kleine Drift | 80 M | ||
| Turn right onto Larenseweg | 146 M | ||
| Turn right onto Eemnesserweg | 19 M | ||
| Turn left to stay on Eemnesserweg | 1.2 KM | ||
| Turn left onto Kamerlingh Onnesweg | 40 M | ||
| Turn right | 30 M | ||
| Turn left onto Schans | 25 M | ||
| Turn right onto Aardjesberg | 133 M | ||
| Turn right onto Eemnesserweg | 1.4 KM | ||
| Turn left | 4 M | ||
| Turn left | 104 M | ||
| You are now at section 53 | 0 M | ||
|
From
53
to
51
|
1751 M | 1.8 KM | |
| Head north | 38 M | ||
| Turn left onto Zuiderheide | 1.3 KM | ||
| Continue straight | 292 M | ||
| Turn left | 86 M | ||
| Make a slight left | 54 M | ||
| You are now at section 51 | 0 M | ||
|
From
51
to
66
|
890 M | 0.9 KM | |
| Head northwest | 890 M | ||
| You are now at section 66 | 0 M | ||
|
From
66
to
80
|
3196 M | 3.2 KM | |
| Head north | 54 M | ||
| Keep left at the fork | 383 M | ||
| Turn left | 297 M | ||
| Turn right | 397 M | ||
| Make a slight right onto Natuurbrug Laarderhoogt | 454 M | ||
| Continue straight | 319 M | ||
| Turn left | 97 M | ||
| Continue onto Prinses Julianalaan | 37 M | ||
| Turn right | 1.2 KM | ||
| You are now at section 80 | 0 M | ||
|
From
80
to
81
|
1199 M | 1.2 KM | |
| Head northeast | 36 M | ||
| Continue onto Boissevainweg | 973 M | ||
| Continue onto Naarderweg | 150 M | ||
| Turn right onto Huizerweg | 40 M | ||
| You are now at section 81 | 0 M | ||
|
From
81
to
1
|
2164 M | 2.2 KM | |
| Head northeast on Langeweg | 195 M | ||
| Turn left onto Meentweg | 150 M | ||
| Turn right onto Mosselweg | 116 M | ||
| Make a slight left onto Binnenweg | 119 M | ||
| Make a slight right onto Gebroeders Dooijewaardweg | 35 M | ||
| Turn left onto Fransepad | 1.2 KM | ||
| Turn right onto Gooyerweg | 320 M | ||
| You are now at section 01 | 0 M | ||
|
From
1
to
2
|
1026 M | 1 KM | |
| Head southeast on Gooyerweg | 844 M | ||
| Turn right onto Meentweg | 24 M | ||
| Make a slight left | 158 M | ||
| You are now at section 02 | 0 M | ||
|
From
2
to
25
|
4326 M | 4.3 KM | |
| Head southeast | 1.2 KM | ||
| Turn right onto Noord Ervenweg | 3.1 KM | ||
| You are now at section 25 | 0 M | ||
|
From
25
to
20
|
2337 M | 2.3 KM | |
| Head south on Zuid Ervenweg | 2.3 KM | ||
| You are now at section 20 | 0 M | ||
|
From
20
to
21
|
1832 M | 1.8 KM | |
| Head west on Anna Louwenweg | 1.8 KM | ||
| Turn right | 23 M | ||
| You are now at section 21 | 0 M | ||
|
From
21
to
22
|
2924 M | 2.9 KM | |
| Head west | 60 M | ||
| Continue onto Wakkerendijk | 628 M | ||
| Turn left onto Oude Amsterdamsestraatweg | 485 M | ||
| Turn right to stay on Oude Amsterdamsestraatweg | 74 M | ||
| Continue straight | 74 M | ||
| Turn right | 48 M | ||
| Turn left onto Groeneveld | 219 M | ||
| Turn left onto Groeneveld | 1.3 KM | ||
| You are now at section 22 | 0 M | ||
|
From
22
to
63
|
2262 M | 2.3 KM | |
| Head south | 259 M | ||
| Make a slight right | 41 M | ||
| Turn left | 294 M | ||
| Turn left onto H. Voorveldlaan | 1.1 KM | ||
| Turn right | 12 M | ||
| Turn left onto Bosbadlaan | 559 M | ||
| You are now at section 63 | 0 M | ||
|
From
63
to
90
|
2183 M | 2.2 KM | |
| Head southwest | 411 M | ||
| Make a slight left | 1.8 KM | ||
| You are now at section 90 | 0 M | ||
|
From
90
to
34
|
1216 M | 1.2 KM | |
| Head southwest | 810 M | ||
| Turn left onto Hoge Vuurseweg | 406 M | ||
| You are now at section 34 | 0 M | ||
|
From
34
to
98
|
1876 M | 1.9 KM | |
| Head west on Karnemelksweg | 108 M | ||
| Keep left at the fork | 11 M | ||
| Make a slight right | 1.3 KM | ||
| Make a slight right onto Vuursche Dreef | 427 M | ||
| You are now at section 98 | 0 M | ||
|
From
98
to
33
|
155 M | 0.2 KM | |
| Head west on Vuursche Dreef | 155 M | ||
| You are now at section 33 | 0 M | ||
|
From
33
to
82
|
207 M | 0.2 KM | |
| Head north | 207 M | ||
| You are now at section 82 | 0 M | ||
|
From
82
to
83
|
579 M | 0.6 KM | |
| Head northeast | 579 M | ||
| You are now at section 83 | 0 M | ||
|
From
83
to
42
|
6230 M | 6.2 KM | |
| Head northwest on Jeneverpad | 1.4 KM | ||
| Turn right | 992 M | ||
| Turn left | 430 M | ||
| Turn right onto Lage Vuurscheweg | 580 M | ||
| Turn right onto Huydecopersweg | 279 M | ||
| Turn left onto Soestdijkerstraatweg | 494 M | ||
| Enter the roundabout and take the 3rd exit onto Soestdijkerstraatweg | 60 M | ||
| Exit the roundabout onto Soestdijkerstraatweg | 599 M | ||
| Continue straight | 13 M | ||
| Continue onto Soestdijkerstraatweg | 238 M | ||
| Continue straight | 5 M | ||
| Continue onto Soestdijkerstraatweg | 262 M | ||
| Continue onto Emmastraat | 268 M | ||
| Make a slight right | 328 M | ||
| Turn left | 18 M | ||
| Turn left | 225 M | ||
| You are now at section 42 | 0 M |