Veluwezoom National Park seasonal timing guide for Gelderland heathland

The Netherlands' oldest national park protecting Veluwe heathlands and ancient forests

Veluwezoom National Park

Veluwezoom National Park represents the ecological and recreational heart of the Veluwe region, a terminal moraine complex formed during the Saalian glaciation approximately 130,000 years ago. The park's terrain displays the most pronounced topographical variation found anywhere in the Netherlands, with the Oost-Veluwestuwwal creating a ridge of hills that rises dramatically above the surrounding lowlands. This geological foundation supports an extraordinary diversity of habitats, from the acidic, nutrient-poor sandy soils of the heathlands to the richer loess deposits in southern valleys where ancient beech forests have developed. The park's cultural landscape evolved over centuries of human interaction. Following the last ice age, the area became naturally forested with deciduous woodland, but the establishment of human settlements led to widespread deforestation through logging and overgrazing by sheep and cattle. This pressure transformed much of the Veluwe into extensive heathland, while some areas degraded further into active sand drifts. Medieval and early modern periods saw the development of country estates along the southern margins, withBeekhuizen, Heuven, and Rhederoord establishing formal parks and wooded estates that remain significant landscape features. The nineteenth century brought another transformation as heathlands were systematically planted with coniferous species, creating extensive Scots pine forests in areas like the Schaddevelden and Eerbeekse Veld. These planted forests now form important habitat, though contemporary management increasingly favors conversion toward more natural woodland development. Natuurmonumenten's acquisition of the Hagenau forest in 1911 marked the beginning of systematic conservation, culminating in the park's 1930 designation as the Netherlands' first national park.