Hiking the Dutch Mountain Trail in the Netherlands
In short
- What: Hiking and camping on the Dutch Mountain Trail
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Time: 4-5 days
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Distance: 100 km and 1570 height meters
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Wildcamping: officially not allowed
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Seasonality: all year round
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Arrival with public transport: yes
- Highlights: Maastricht cave area, Vaalserberg (three-country point with the Netherlands, Belgium and Germany).
The first ever camping and hiking trip I did was the Dutch mountain trail. I hear you thinking: mountains?! In The Netherlands?! Isn’t it like the flattest country in the world? Yes, i agree, it is a ridiculous name, considering that The Netherlands obviously doesn’t have any mountains or whatsoever in it’s surroundings. Apart from the deceicive name, the route was actually really beautiful, and perfect for my first backpacking experience. I had been hiking before, but those were always day-hikes, and I never truly backpacked. Thererfore I had no clue on what to bring when you carry all your camping stuff yourself.
It was November, and although it was one of the rare weeks where it was not raining, it was very cold. Staying in the forest gave us the advantage of being able to make campfires at night, which kept us warm. It was also a way of spending our evening time, since it already got dark at five.
How i got here
Why I decided to start backpacking? I was 25, just started a masters in Applied Geophysics in Delft and was planning to go to Zürich during my next semester. In Zürich I really wanted to start hiking and camping in the mountains, since i have always loved the mountains. This trip was kind of in preperation of that. During my masters I met a friend (with whom I fell madly in love with during that time, because he was everything my current relationship didn’t have.. ). He was really into climbing, hiking, camping and mountineering after his semester abroad in Canada, and was experienced in all of it (these are good friends to have!). Doing this trip with him and another common friend of ours, gave me the confidence to organize hikes on my own in Switzerland.
Hiking gear
The only thing i bought for before doing the Dutch mountain trail was a secondhand way too big 0 °C sleeping bag. Everything else, like a matt, a big backpack, warm clothing, i borrowed from my parents. My friend had a two person tent (in which we slept with the three of us) and a gascooker.
![Beautiful forests along the trail [picture made by Kate Brooks]](http://hikersguidetoearth.eu/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/forest-gulpen.jpg)
As I started hiking more and more, i started to buy gear myself and upgrade the gear I already had. I started to learn which gear i preferred over others. I compared my gear with the gear my friends had and tried to find most of the things secondhand. So you don’t need everything for your first backpacking trip, you don’t need to be ultralight. Just ask around and gather your gear slowly and choose carefully what you want. I learned that especially the older generation has a lot of hiking gear that they generally don’t use.
![Classic views on the hilly landscapes of the region [picture made by Kate Brooks]](http://hikersguidetoearth.eu/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/rolling-hills-netherlands.jpg)
Hiking the Dutch Mountain Trail
The Dutch Mountain trail has been set out in 2020, in honor of the Dutch Mountain Film Festival. It starts in Eygelshoven and ends in Maastricht, taking you over the 7 highest peaks of The Netherlands. The highest one is at 330 height meters (Vaalserberg), next to the three-country point with Germany and Belgium. The route is very scenic, and not at all what you would expect, thinking about the flatness our country. It goes through loads of forests, beautiful hilly areas and small towns, while constantly crossing the two borders with Belgium and Germany.
The route is 101 km long, and it took us four days to complete. We crossed beautiful forests, rolling hills and limestone caves. We crossed different towns such like Gulpen and Maastricht, with great atmosphere and many historical sites. This area of the Netherlands is a bit more Burgundian and you feel this in the towns! The people are more relaxed, there’s many cafés and terraces for a drink or some food.
We camped in between in the forest, which is strictly forbidden in all three countries. The same holds for making campfires at night. Otherwise there are many places where you can sleep in AirBnB’s, small hotels or campsites.
The last day we took some detours around the cave area of Maastricht, including walking through a few kilometer long old mine tunnel. This area is great to spend more time while exploring Sint Pieter caves, Fort Sint Pieter and the Kazematten. A ferry takes you over the Maas river in Eijsden, but please note that it doesn’t sail in winter. This required us to add an extra 5 kilometers to the route, going over the nearest bridge more south. The detour was mostly along car roads.
![Befriending cows on the road [picture made by Kate Brooks]](http://hikersguidetoearth.eu/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/field-with-cows-1.jpg)
Doing your first hike
Although the Dutch Mountain Trail is obviously not the same as hiking in the mountains, it is definitely a good first hike. It is useful to train your muscles, test your sleeping bag and consider what you truly need while backpacking.
I definetely brought too much stuff that i didn’t use, like soap, a tea towel and a sponge to do dishes. I also didn’t bring a down jacket but instead heavy fleece sweaters. It is great to discover how you (or your friends!) behave while being in the cold. Out of your comfort zone and spending a lot of time together. The great thing about my hiking group now, is that it doesn’t matter how miserable we feel. Even when we have hiked a whole day through the rain and wind and are cold through our bones, we can always keep up the common group spirit and atmosphere.
After two and a half days of hiking through the dutch moutnains my knee started to hurt terribly, possibly also because of the cold. Luckily the hike was not too hard nor too long, which gave me enough time to train that part of my body before going into the acutal mountainsain of Switzerland.
For more information on doing your first hike read this article!
![Camping in the forest close to Vaals [picture made by Bas Mulder]](http://hikersguidetoearth.eu/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/forest-camping.jpg)
The route
Next to the komoot route, more information on the trail can be found on their website.
How to get there
From Amsterdam both Maastricht and Eygelshoven are easily reacheable by train and takes around 3 hours, for the time schedule check the dutch train company.
Good to know
- Ferry – The ferry in Eijsden taking you over the Maas river doesn’t run from late autumn to early spring. This adds a 5 km long detour to the route (mostly along car roads).
- Wildcamping – In all three countries it is strictly forbidden to camp, or make campfires outside of designated camp(-fire) spots. There’s plenty of hotels, B&B and campsites along the route, more information and a guid for the route can be found on their website.
![Exploring the cave area and limestone formations close to maastricht. [picture made by Bas Mulder]](http://hikersguidetoearth.eu/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/limestone-mines-maastricht.jpg)
Best time to hike the Dutch Mountain Trail
The weather in the netherlands can be very rainy during late autumn, winter and beginning of spring. I would recommend to hike the Dutch Mountain Trail in late spring or early autumn. Choose a week with good weather, and see how the world around you blooms or covers you in yellow and orange autumn colors. During summer this area can be extremely hot, temperatures up to 35 degrees celcius, and not so much wind to cool you down.
Geology
Around this route you mostly find the Maastricht formation, which date back to the Late Cretaceous. This is the era were the dinosaurs got extinct, around 66 million years ago. It is a soft, sandy shallow marine limestone, which means that it mostly consists of fish bones, which are alternated by bands of marl or clay The area has been used for mining in the past, which is the reasons for all the caves in the area.
