Forest combined with the Groeneveld estate ~16km, 11 february 2018
Summary
This trail mostly goes throug forest area with in addition the park of estate Groeneveld, the Stulp area (open space with grass, heather and charolais cows) and a small part through the little village of Baarn with its nice villas. Overall a nice hike through forest nature area.
Description trail
This route starts at the railway station in Baarn and follows the route indicated in the book “Wandelen over de Utrechtse Heuvelrug” by Rob Wolfs and Ad Snelderwaard. We changed the start of it slightly since my friend wanted to find a geocache close to the old bridge over the railway. We didnot find it so if someone knows how to get it, please send me an email about it!
The route continues first through Baarn and then turns into a diverse forest.
Already at 4 kms you enter the Groeneveld Estate where you can drink or eat something in the very nice restaurant. At the time that we were there, on it’s terrace you could even roast marshmellows over a fire. The estate itself is a well contained park with a pond and hiking trails.
The hike continues into the forest. We made a little mistake on the route but were able to correct it shortly.
More close to the end of the hike, in the forest there is the open space “the Stulp” with heather, and this adds variation to the hike. On the Stulp, you can find charolais cows whose presence ensures that the open space remains an open space. Unfortunately they hid far away from our trail.
At the end you go through an area of Baarn with villas built during 1910-1930 and these have interesting features like little towers. The trail ends at railway station Baarn where there is the possibilty for a drink or dinner. We finished our hike in “the Generaal”, a cosy place next to the station.
General/details:
Start and Finish: Baarn railway station
Type: circular route
Length: 16 km
Difficulty: easy
Terrain: mostly sandpath, flat
How to get there? By car: you can easily park your car for free next to the railway station. Public transport: You can also get there by train.
Restaurants underway? Yes, at the starting/finish point and at 4km (Groeneveld estate). Recommended: in Baarn, next to the railway station, De Generaal, daily open from 10 a.m. www.degeneraal.nl. and on estate Groeneveld, www.grandcafegroeneveld.com, open tuesday-sunday from 11:00-17:00.