10 kmRandbøl Heath
Denmark’s largest inland heath has the same drifting sand, heather and dunes as Grene Sande, just on a much larger scale.
Grene Sande lies within Gyttegård Plantation, but for a moment your body may think otherwise. Here the ground shifts from loose, dry sand to heathland and damp hollows within a short distance, and that makes the area more varied than its size suggests.
The most striking feature is the inland dunes: sand hills without sea, beach, or coastal wind as an explanation. The sand is aeolian sand, moved and shaped by wind over a very long time, and the landscape still shows the struggle between gusts, sand, plants, and moisture.
The damp bog areas have helped slow the sand and create shelter, allowing the large U-shaped parabolic dune to form. In the area you will encounter open dune surfaces, stretches of heath, small ponds, and wetter patches, where the walk quickly gains more layers than just “a walk in the woods”.
Grene Sande is also a place where you can notice the low and slow: heather, mosses, lichens, and the open areas that must be kept free of overgrowth so they do not lose their character.
The place is well suited to a short nature experience, also with children who can feel the landscape directly in their legs. On the other hand, sand, roots, inclines, and narrow paths are part of the package; this is not an area that behaves like a smooth park path.
Grene Sande’s most striking break in the plantation is a bright sand area measuring about 400 x 100 meters. It lies like an inland version of the West Coast: dry, open, and without sea, surrounded by heather, heathland, small bogs, and scattered vegetation.
The sand is still slowly on the move. This is especially visible by the trees, where the wind has removed sand around the roots, so that in some places they hang freely and cling to the loose ground.
Grene Sande is a birdwatching spot because the landscape alternates between dry heath, bogs, fens and small ponds. The crane is especially associated with the wet areas, while the red-backed shrike and the woodlark belong to the drier heath types.
The nightjar can be a more discreet experience: the Danish Nature Agency highlights its whirring sound on bright summer evenings. The common redshank is mentioned in the area’s birdlife, but is best described cautiously as a rare visitor to the heath areas.
In Grene Sande, horses and cattle are not decoration in the landscape, but part of nature management. Grazing keeps tall vegetation and new growth down, allowing more light to reach the soil surface.
This is important in an area with inland dunes, heathland, and extremely poor soil. Without this kind of disturbance, open habitats can become overgrown with scrub and forest; here, closely grazed grass also makes room for low plants and greater variety.
Gyttegård Golf Club is located very close to Grene Sande, so the transition between golf course, plantation and protected heathland is unusually short. The course has 18 holes, par 70, and is described as forest and heath, with a mix of woodland holes and open stretches.
From the southern part of Grene Sande, you can look out over the course. The clubhouse is located in an old forester’s residence from 1898, in the middle of the plantation that otherwise hides sand, heather and inland dunes.
At the parking area in Grene Sande lies the Gyttegård Plantation Dog Forest: a fenced area of approximately 5 hectares, established in 2005/06.
Here, dogs may run off leash if the companion has full control; otherwise, the leash must remain on. Outside the dog forest, the leash rule applies in Gyttegård Plantation, also if the walk continues out into sand, heather, and dunes. The gates must be kept closed so that dogs and wildlife are kept separate.
