Starting Point Sint Maartenszee

Sint Maartenszee is a post-war coastal hamlet. It does not lie directly on the sea but at a junction of the provincial Westerduinweg (N502) and the line of a former works railway used to transport sand for coastal defence (now supplied directly from the sea). Behind the high Zijperzeedijk lie the Pettemerduinen and the Ketelduinen, with dune lakes, flower-filled dune valleys and planted conifer woodland. Between 1550 and 1800, this area formed a wide coastal plain between Petten and Callantsoog, where sand and sea had free rein and where large, rounded kettle dunes shifted from south to north.

• The purple route runs along shell paths past wind-shaped trees to the wet dune valleys of Het Korfwater. It then returns along the northern edge of the Pettemerduinen, managed by Staatsbosbeheer (Dutch Forestry Commission) over the Zijperzeedijk and past the Energy Research Centre of the Netherlands (ECN), where research is carried out into sustainable energy innovation.

• The orange route initially follows the same direction but turns off before the Derde Korfwater, then returns across the beach and through the Ketelduinen and their dune valleys.

• The green route runs around the Zwanenwater nature reserve, as far as the lively dune village of Callantsoog, with many places to eat and drink, then continues along the Zuidschinkeldijk (a dyke reinforced by wind-blown sand from 1553) and returns over the overgrown Zijperzeedijk. 

The Noord-Hollandpad is a long-distance walking route of 284 km, divided into 16 stages from Texel to Huizen. It crosses the inland landscapes of Noord-Holland along farm tracks, past windmills, ditches, canals and woodland, and through distinctive villages. The route is signposted in both directions. Stage 4 runs from Julianadorp to Kolhorn (22 km). See www.noordhollandpad.nl for more information.