Rold Skov (Rold Forest) is a forest in Himmerland, Denmark. At 8,000 ha, it is the second largest forest in the country, after the Silkeborg Forests.[1]
The forest is named after the village of Rold which lies in the southern outskirt of the forest. Other towns in Rold Skov include Arden, Rebild, and Skørping.
Description
Rold Skov comprises several distinct areas and woodlands in a very hilly terrain, giving rise to a number of springs (Lille Blåkilde, Ravnkilde, Gravlevkilden, Egebækkilden), streams and lakes such as Madum Lake, Økssø, Mossø, and the newly restored Gravlev Lake. Rebild National Park, a natural site consisting of heather-covered hills, is located in the northern parts of the forest. To the east of the town of Rebild, lies the abandoned limestone mines of Thingbæk ('Thingbæk Kalkminer'), now used for underground art exhibitions and an important site for five species of hibernatingbats in the winter months. The mines are administered through Rebildcentret, who also hosts various museums, activities and some conservation efforts in the area. South of Skørping is the Jyske Skovhave ('Jylland Forest Garden'), an open arboretum begun in 1886 and displaying a variety of trees and shrubs from the northern hemisphere.
75% of the forest is privately owned, primarily under the manors of Lindenborg, Nørlund and Willestrup. The state of Denmark owns and administers the rest.
History
Although Denmark is normally considered a safe country nowadays, Rold Skov was formerly associated with robberies and violent assaults for centuries. In the 1830s the authorities succeeded in unraveling maybe the largest gang of all, with more than a hundred robbers and courtcases spanning a total of seven years from 1837 to 1844. The events and the gangs' activities were later described in a novel by Danish writer Steen Steensen Blicher.
The closed civil government atomic bunker of Denmark, named Regan Vest (da:Regan Vest), is located in the forest.[2]
Flora, fauna, and funga
The red deer stags, are the largest animal in Rold Skov.
Rold Skov has a rich and varied fauna. It is home to a large variety of birds and the larger animals here are red deer, roe deer, badger and fox, among many different smaller animals like otter, stoat, bats and different kinds of rodents including squirrels.
Large parts of the woods are dominated by various conifers and the flora of the forest floor is rather poor of species in most areas. Where chalk comes to the surface layers, it can present some rare and more interesting plant species though, like the rare lady's-slipper orchid growing side by side with plants like pennywort, smell fox and red helleborine for example. Note: In Denmark all orchids are to be protected and it is forbidden to pick them.
Rold Skov supports a very broad array of fungi, with 5,000 different species and still counting. There are well-known eating mushrooms to be found, but also fungi like the peculiar Troldsmør ("Troll-butter" or fuligo septica) that can move around, the beautiful fly agaric, the tinder fungus used for lighting fire in the old days or the deceptive bitter bolete.
Skørping is a railway town in Rebild Municipality in Region Nordjylland in the geographic region of the Jutland peninsula known as Himmerland in northern Denmark. The modern town has a population of 3,043 as of 1 January 2023.
Jeppe Aakjær was a Danish poet and novelist, a member of the 'Jutland Movement' in Danish literature". A regionalist, much of his writings were about his native Jutland. He was known for writings that reflected his concern for the impoverished and for describing rural existence.
Brabrand is a postal district of Aarhus Municipality, Denmark. South of Brabrand, in the Aarhus river-valley, is the largest recreational area of Aarhus Municipality, comprising the Brabrand Lake and the meadow-lake of Årslev, with surrounding natural sites.
Jammerbugt Municipality is a municipality in the North Jutland Region on the North Jutlandic Island. It is located along the coast of Skagerrak to the north and the Limfjord to the south. It borders the municipalities of Thisted, Vesthimmerland, Aalborg, Brønderslev and Hjørring.
Hatfield Forest is a 403.2-hectare (996-acre) biological Site of Special Scientific Interest in Essex, three miles east of Bishop's Stortford. It is also a National Nature Reserve and a Nature Conservation Review site. It is owned and managed by the National Trust. A medieval warren in the forest is a Scheduled Monument.
Vejlby is a north-eastern neighbourhood of Aarhus in Denmark. It is located 5km from the city centre and is administratively part of the district of Risskov.
Jutland is a peninsula of Northern Europe that forms the continental portion of Denmark and part of northern Germany (Schleswig-Holstein). It stretches from the Grenen spit in the north to the confluence of the Elbe and the Sude in the southeast. The historic southern border river of Jutland as a cultural-geographical region, which historically also included Southern Schleswig, is the Eider. The peninsula, on the other hand, also comprises areas south of the Eider: Holstein, the former duchy of Lauenburg, and most of Hamburg and Lübeck.
Max Henius was a Danish-American biochemist who specialized in the fermentation processes. Max Henius co-founded the American Academy of Brewing in Chicago.
Rebild National Park is a protected area located in Rebild municipality in Region Nordjylland in Denmark.
Hellebæk is a town located on the coast five kilometres northwest of Helsingør, North Zealand, some 40 kilometres north of Copenhagen, Denmark. It has merged with the neighbouring community of Ålsgårde to form an urban area with a population of 5,816.
Madum Lake is the largest lake in the Himmerland peninsula of Jutland, Denmark. The lake covers an area of 2.04 square kilometres (0.79 sq mi), and has a depth of 7.5 metres (25 ft) at its deepest point. It is both an important bird sanctuary and a popular bathing spot.
The Rebild Festival, or Rebild Celebrations, is an annual celebration of the American Independence Day in Denmark. At the same time, it serves as a homecoming for Danish-Americans. It takes place in the Rebild National Park in Jutland from which it takes its name and is arranged by the Danish-American Rebild Society.
Mossø is Denmark's third largest freshwater lake and Jutland's largest, as measured by surface area. The lake is located just west of the city of Skanderborg in east Jutland, but is part of both Skanderborg Municipality and Horsens Municipality. Mossø lies in the middle of the area and landscape known as Søhøjlandet.
Brabrand Lake is a lake in the district of Brabrand (Gellerup), west of Aarhus city, Denmark. The Aarhus River passes through Brabrand Lake and it is possible to canoe all the way to the inner city from here. The lake is oblong-shaped.
Lille Vildmose is a raised bog in the hinterland in the municipalities of Aalborg and Mariagerfjord, Denmark. It is the largest remaining raised bog in Northwestern Europe. The bog is a remnant of heathland that once extended south from Limfjorden to Rold Forest.
Mols Bjerge National Park or Nationalpark Mols Bjerge is a Danish national park in the area known as Mols Bjerge in Syddjurs Municipality, Central Jutland, inaugurated on 29 August 2009. The protected area, measures 180 square kilometres (69 sq mi) in size. The Mols Hills, reaching a height of 137 metres (449 ft), are centrally located in the park, and take up 2,500 ha. "More than half of all wild Danish plant species" can be found at Mols Bjerge.
Silkeborg Forests is Denmark’s largest forest. It comprises a collection of several independent private and public woodlands, that have been allowed to merge into a single connected forest south of the city of Silkeborg. At 22,400 ha, it is Denmark's largest forest since 2004, after Rold Skov, and it is located within the largest forest district in the country as well. The forests forms an important part of the larger regional landscape known as Søhøjlandet.
Sletterhage Lighthouse is located in Denmark on the southern tip of the Djursland peninsula protruding into the Kattegat between Denmark and Sweden at the entrance to the Baltic Sea. The concrete lighthouse was built in 1894 to help guide ships to and from the Port of Aarhus, via a shipping lane that passes close to the lighthouse isthmus.
Ryomgård is a Danish country town with a population of 2,671 located 29 kilometers north east of to the country’s second largest city Aarhus. As such Ryomgård is in part a pendler town to Aarhus.
Lillering Forest is a forest and protected Natura 2000 area in Denmark. It is located in peninsular Denmark in Aarhus Municipality, south of Harlev and some 10 km. west of Aarhus. It is a deciduous forest covering some 50 hectares and it is composed mainly of beech and European ash. It is privately owned but protected and partially managed by Aarhus Municipality and the Danish Nature Agency. The Natura 2000 site covers 135 hectares and also encompasses Tåstrup Bog, Tåstrup Lake and Stjær Forest, south of Lillering Forest. The southern section with Stjær Forest is within, and managed by, Skanderborg Municipality.
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