Bloemendaal – Loslopen.net

The Bloemendaal dunes are part of the Zuid-Kennemerland Dunes and the dog section is a large area of rugged sand-scapes and beach grasses, with large water areas – depending on how much it has rained lately. If it is windy on the beach then the dunes offer more shelter and it is lovely to scale one of the peaks and look over the whole park.

Some sections of this area is covered with gorse or sanddoorn bushes which can give you a decent scratch if you are not careful, so either stick to the wider paths or wear long trousers!

Near the watering hole there are some open areas to have a good run around, and in some spots amongst the hills and dales there are open areas that look a little like abandoned agricultural spots. In fact I have seen some people doing some kind of allotment farming there. These are private areas so just walk around them.

At some point you will likely meet the cycle path that links Haarlem with Zandvoort and in summer this can be busy, but you can pretty much keep away from it, it just runs along one side of the dog area. There are a couple of horse paths in this area as well, I have never seen horses walking there but have seen their leftovers. You can also expect the occasional 10-dog-pack walker now and then but even if you do, it’s the dunes, just walk over a hill if you want to avoid them.

Depending on the time of year you can expect rabbits and an array of little critters that live in holes in the sand. I have seen foxes there too. These are mostly confined to the areas with dense shrubbery. Most of the area is fenced but in some areas that fencing is a bit leaky. I have personally never seen deer in this part of the dunes but I would not guarantee their absence.

This area borders the F1 circuit, in fact turn right after the entrance and keep close to the edge of the dunes and you can look down onto the racing track. When there are practices or test drives, it can be really noisy here. And of course if there is a real F1 event then you can forget any attempt to drive even close to this location, in fact avoid anything within a 15km radius of the circuit during race weekends and go somewhere quieter instead. We have a few alternatives in these pages for you 🙂

The easiest spot to park is on the Boulevard Barnaart, on the beach front and right next to Bernie’s Beach club – there is a sign for it in the parking area. The entrance to the dunes is directly opposite this spot. You can also take the 81 bus here, bus stop Zandvoort Riche.

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