Practical Information - Randbøl Hede and Frederikshåb Plantage

Randbøl Hede and Frederikshåb Plantage have 22 km of bridle paths in total.

Start from Kirstinelyst Nature Base, which is accessible with a horse trailer. There are also pens, electric fencing and access to water. In addition, you may use the bonfire site and shelters.

A completely new 10-km bridle path takes you all the way around Randbøl Hede.

Following Vorbasse Studevej the path takes you to the southern part of the moor, which is not much visited.

See bridle paths on map on udinaturen.dk (in Danish)

The Hærvejen bridle path only passes through the eastern part of Frederikshåb Plantage and it is therefore worth taking a short detour to Kirstinelyst Nature Base.

The bridle paths are marked with red pictogram posts at the entrances to the forest and the moor, as well as with stones with painted arrows across the moor.

You are also permitted to ride on the paved roads, the forest roads and in and the woods (except in fenced-off areas and in new growths).

There are no marked cycling trails on neither Randbøl Hede nor in Frederikshåb Plantage. You may cycle in Frederikshåb Plantage and along Vorbasse Studevej on Randbøl Hede.

You are only permitted to cycle on paths and forest roads, not on the floor of the forest nor up and down slopes.

The national cycle route No 3, Hærvejen, traverses the eastern part of Frederikshåb Plantage and it is worth taking a short detour to Kirstinelyst Nature Base, where you find bicycle parking, bonfire sites and shelters.

You are permitted to ride along the 22 km of marked bridle paths which are marked on the map. A completely new bridle path leads far into Randbøl Hede.

Kirstinelyst Nature Base provides a “hay-hotel” with several pens with access to areas with electrical fence and water.

Read more on horseback riding (in Danish)

In principle, dogs must always be kept on their leash in the forest and on the moor.

However, there is a dog play pen area south of the carpark at Vorbasse Studevej. Here, your dog is permitted to run free - assuming you have control of your dog and can call it to you.

Read more about taking your dog in nature (in Danish)

See the dog play pen area on map at udinaturen.dk (in Danish)

Kirstinelyst Nature Base is designed to be used by the disabled; however, the hiking trails of the moor and Frederikshåb Plantage are difficult to use by wheelchair users and those with mobility issues.

Many people use nature - and for widely different purposes. Therefore, a code of conduct has been set out for the use of nature.

The code is made to ensure that the trip into nature will be a good experience for as many people as possible.

Kirstinelyst Nature Base is open to events based in the moorlands.

These might be courses in drawing and painting in the moorland. It might be the Danish Ornithological Society looking to observe the cranes’ mating dance. It might be a riding club journeying through the open moorland. It might be so many others - the options are endless.

In that case, indoor meeting rooms may be booked at Kirstinelyst Nature Base.

You may apply for permission for your event in the Book an activity option (in Danish)

You have two types of accommodation at your disposal.

The best is Kirstinelyst Nature Base, which sports five shelters that can accommodate an entire school class.

Shelters are primitive wooden cabins that provide shelter, a firm foundation and a roof over your head.

Shelters at Kirstinelyst Nature Base must be booked in advance (in Danish)

If you have your own tent, there is also a primitive tent site in Hestedalen a little north of the area of “røser”. Staying at this site does not require pre-booking.

Blueberries, cowberries, blackberries, bog whortleberries and cranberries. There are plenty of berries growing on Randbøl Hede and you may pick enough for your own consumption.

Kirstinelyst Nature Base has a lot of equipment which may be borrowed by groups of students that are taught on Randbøl Hede. For example, the Nature Base has ground augers, pH-meters, butterfly nets, binoculars, tablecloths for determination of species, and even trolleys to transport the equipment.

There are three obvious locations for opening the picnic hamper and the thermos: Kirstinelyst Nature Base, Kighøj Skovløberhus and the bonfire hut at Vestre Rullebane. All these have bonfire sites with benches.

Kirstinelyst Nature Base provides tables and benches seating 50 people under a large covered porch are where it is also possible to barbeque.

Also at Kighøj Skovløberhus, you will find tables and benches and they are even indoors, sheltered from rain and wind. It is possible to light the kerosene lamps and light a fire in the wood-burning stove - dry firewood is available from the firewood box.

The bonfire hut at Vestre Rullebane has a bonfire site and a barbecue as well as movable sets of tables and benches.

Read more on the use of bonfire sites (in Danish)

In the summer, from mid-August to mid-September, you may take a ride in a horse-drawn carriage on Randbøl Hede. The tour lasts one-and-a-half hours and usually starts every Thursday at 6:30pm from the carpark at Kirstinelyst Nature Base.

The tour comes close to Staldbakkerne and sometimes a ranger joins the tour as a guide.

A couple of times during the summer, one-hour rides in horse-drawn carriages through Frederikshåb Plantage are also offered. The tours depart from the carpark on Rygbjergvej, Saturdays at 11am.

The tours are organised by the tourist information in Vejle.

Read more and book at visitvejle.dk (in Danish)

Frederikshåb Plantage has a forest TREC course for riders and their horses. The course is inspired by TREC, trail, western riding, dressage and horsemanship. It is designed for those who would like to work with their horses in nature. The 21 obstacles of the course are challenges which you could encounter on horseback in the woods and in nature - and they are constructed from materials found in the forest. 

Read more about Frederikshåb Forest TREC Course (in Danish)