Starting point Het Groene Schip Spaarndam / Halfweg
Routes from this starting point
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Groene Schip Walk (red)
Unpaved path (partly) - 2km
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Northern Tour Route (green)
Unpaved path (partly) - 3.47km
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Houtrakkerbeemden Walk (yellow)
Unpaved path (partly) No dogs allowed Closed during bird breeding season - 4.69km
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Westhoff Route (blue)
Unpaved path (partly) No dogs allowed - 7.81km
The Noorderbos is the northernmost tip of the Houtrak. This area was part of the IJ estuary until the land reclamation in 1876 and the construction of the North Sea Canal. This polder on the border of Spaarndam and Halfweg is named after the water around the island of Ruigoord. So you are actually walking at the bottom of a former inland sea here. There have been trees here only since 1992. The young forest of Staatsbosbeheer thrives on the clay soil. There are some orchards in the forest, which are especially attractive for songbirds. On the edge is Het Groene Schip, an imposing hill. In the Houtrakkerbeemden, the brackish nature from the time of the IJ once again has a place.
- The Groene Schip Walk (red) on the border of Spaarndam and Halfweg is short, intense and very impressive. From the top of this 30-metre-high hill, you get a panoramic view of the entire region, from dam to dune.
The Northern Tour Route (green) on the border of Spaarndam and Halfweg is a nice walk to get to know the Noorderbos. You walk through the Voedselbos forest and along an overgrown orchard.- The Houtrakkerbeemden Walk (yellow) on the border of Spaarndam and Halfweg goes through a relatively young nature reserve. The grassland floods annually with brackish water. Spoonbills like to come here to forage, especially because river shrimp and sticklebacks thrive in the brackish creek. Please note: only outside the breeding season.
- The Westhoff Route (blue) on the border of Spaarndam and Halfweg is a somewhat longer walk through the eponymous and somewhat older forest and along the lake of the same name. You also walk along a piece of old seawall.