Jaap van 't Veen's photos with the keyword: zandverstuiving

Kootwijkerzand is a drifting sand area on the Veluwe in the Dutch province of Gelderland. With an area of 700 ha is the largest shifting sand area in Western Europe. It is part of the Kootwijk forestry reserve. During our last visit on a cold clear day in December 2021 the landscape and the trees were partly covered (in the shade) with hoarfrost, which made a particularly charming and moody scene. Especially as during our walk we were just the two of us and didn't encounter any other people in this amazing drifting sand area.

Kootwijkerzand is a drifting sand area on the Veluwe in the Dutch province of Gelderland. With an area of 700 ha is the largest shifting sand area in Western Europe. It is part of the Kootwijk forestry reserve. Around 2500 BC, people already lived on the Kootwijkerzand . A flint arrowhead and some pottery remains from around 1700 BC have been found. In the second century AD, a few farms were built and from 700 AD one can speak of a village. In the Middle Ages, iron ore was collected and processed. For this purpose, forest was cut down on a large scale for the production of charcoal. The sandy soil was exposed and started to shift. As a result, the village disappeared under the sand in the 11th century. Management measures are necessary to keep the sand of the Kootwijkerzand moving. Otherwise algae, mosses, lichens and higher plants will cover the sand. The sand is still really drifting. In strong winds, the loose sand blows away in certain places, and comes back down a bit further on. As a result, the terrain changes shape again and again, forming new sand dunes. On the open sandy plain, the temperature can rise to 40 degrees Celsius, while the night temperature can also drop below 0 degrees in summer . The area is often called “the Dutch Sahara”.

The Zuiderheide is one of the heathland areas in Het Gooi ; an area centred on the spur of the so called Utrechtse Heuvelrug (Utrecht Hill Ridge). The height differences in the area were created 120,000 years ago during the penultimate ice age. There are several ca. 4,000-year-old prehistoric burial mounds on the Zuiderheide , which protrude above the heathland like clearly recognisable green domes. The southernmost part of the heathland - near Theehuis 't Bluk - consists of shifting sand, in fact a Dutch 'desert'. The sand that lies here was once brought by the polar storms of the last ice age. After being pleasantly surprised by the beauty of the area last year, this year we visited especially for the blooming heather fields. And partly due to the wet spring, the Zuiderheide was also purple as purple can be !!

Coral Pink Sand Dunes State Park is situated at an altitude of 1,800 metres; the dune field is 14 km² large. It became the status of a state park in 1963. The (more or less) coral pink coloured sand of the dune field consists of grains of sand, which - as a result of erosion – come from Navajo Sandstone of the Moquith and the Moccasin Mountains. The strong wind, which is characteristic for this area, finds its way through the narrow opening between the two mountain ranges. The tunnel effect ensures that the speed of the wind is increased to the point where grains of sand can be carried along (this phenomenon is called venturi affect ). After the wind has passed through the notch and reaches an open valley, its power decreases considerably, causing the sand to be deposited. The Coral Pink Sand Dunes are estimated at 10.000 to 15.000 years old. They are not very high, the highest are about 12 meters. The area has relatively much rainfall. This is why there is plenty of vegetation present on and around the sand dunes, which is quite amazing to see. The dunes and hills of sand can move as much as almost 20 meters a year.

Beekhuizerzand: a Dutch mini desert. It is one of the few remaining drift sand areas in the Netherlands and even Europe. Beekhuizerzand is an area of about 200 hectares. It had to be restored in 2004 from a wooded area to the drift sand in its current shape. Many pines have been cut for this transformation. The top layer of the soil was removed; causing the wind can do its work again. Drift sand areas are unique natural landscapes in western Europe, most of them can be found in the Netherlands. They have their own flora and fauna. Characteristic plants and animals are the lichens and the sand lizards. The temperatures in a drift sand area can vary considerably. Sometimes it freezes at night, but during the day the temperature can rise to 40 degrees Celsius.

Gelderland - Veluwe - Kootwijkerzand: shifting sand dunes nearby Kootwijk.