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Texel – Forests

For a general overview of Texel and how to get there you can go here. This post is only covering the beach areas, if you want to know more about the beach areas, then check out the page on Texel – Beaches.

Once you are in the forest, either follow any of the marked routes, or just follow your nose and work your way through the maze of footpaths down south towards the viewing towers and the nature preservation areas where the leash free area ends. You can easily walk a couple of hours around the forest without re-walking the same pathways.

The dunes between the forest and the beach are restricted for off leash dogs to off season only (September to March), but you will find plenty of other areas to run around in, but once they are open for off leash running, you can extend your walk by another hour if you want to! Just note, depending on your route, at some point you will probably need to walk through a camp site to get to the paths that go over the dune areas. It is a public pathway but you do need to leash your pup when you go through this. Only for a few minutes until you are back outside the camp grounds.

This is one of the few areas where I have seen a “Ruiter-Menpad”, differently to whatever Google translate may tell you, this is not a horse and person pathway, it is a horse and cart pathway, don’t walk down it!

The forest areas have little in the way of water. There are some drainage trenches at the side of the pathways which can dry out in summer, in winter I daresay any water there will be standing and not very pleasant. The only water body we came across was actually in a bird protected area so we unfortunately had to skip it. There is plenty of shade though so if you just bring a small bottle for your pup then you should be OK on a hot day under the trees.

There are a few cycle paths running through the forest that you need to look out for and some paths run fairly close to the road or cycle paths, just make sure you have your pup under control in these parts.

There are some areas with grazing animals (i.e. cows) in one or two fields. You need to walk through a gate to get to them but you can take a detour and walk around this field and avoid them if you don’t feel comfortable. Also keep watch for electric fences around these areas, these have bright yellow tabs on them to make them easy to spot.

We usually park on the car park just off the Ruislaan, close to the Ecomare. Opposite this car park is the Natuurpad Alloo, and in summer this is a leash only area until you get into the forest itself, but it becomes a leash free zone after 1 September the whole way. After September, you can use this path to get into the dune areas next to the forest as well. Alternatively, in summer season, you can turn right along the road and walk along the side of the road towards the forest areas. They are all clearly marked, you will spot the leash free zones after about a 5 minute walk along the roadside.

Of course you can avoid the roadside walk and park in spaces further into the forest and already in the leash free zones, like the one on Monnikenweg but the spaces are limited here to about 10 cars. If you want to be sure of a spot, then go for a larger car park.

Interestingly, even in high summer there are very few people wandering along these paths, you can expect a lovely relaxed walk on a busy, highly touristy island.

Check this out for an overview of the dog areas on Texel. Dark green areas are leash free all year round and the pink area next to the beach is the dune area that is leash free from 1 September to 1 March. The light green areas are nature reserves and dogs must be leashed here.

Pros:

Large shaded area in summer
Few other walkers around even in summer
Easy to combine with beach walks and cafes

Cons:

No water to drink or cool off in
Avoiding cow areas can be a large detour

Location:

Texel

Texel is the largest of the string of islands at the north of the Netherlands. Known for its brewery and beaches, it is a popular holiday resort for both dutch and visitors from over the border. It has to be one of the most dog friendly areas in a busy holiday location that you can wish for. It is a large and diverse island offering some extensive forest areas and, of course, lots and lots of beach. However, it is still within a reasonable distance from North Holland towns to make a day trip.

Texel is about a 20 minute boat trip from Den Helder and TESO ferries leave every half an hour in peak times, every hour when it is quieter. Check the TESO website for the latest departure times – they have been known to adjust last minute depending on how busy they are! We advise anyone making this trip to buy a return ferry ticket online and in advance.

The other thing we would recommend is to buy a Texelvignet parking ticket. It has a fixed daily cost that allows you to park anywhere on the island for the whole day. If you plan to be longer than 4 hours on the island and/or want to drive around and park in different spots during the day, then the parking vignette is not only more convenient, it also works out a little cheaper. Buy it online in advance or on the day you travel.

In addition to the lovely nature on Texel there are also some towns that are worth seeing. De Koog has a nice little high street with many dog friendly cafes and restaurants, and some fun souvenir and home decoration shops. Den Burg is larger and busier, with more of a proper town feeling but an equally interesting array of shops and cafes. With your Texel Vignette, you can also park in any of the shopping area car parks and walk into the town centres.

There are many parking areas to choose from. De Koog is at the Northern part of the park and you can walk easily to the forest from there, Pal 17 is pretty large, it is further south and close to the forest and the also beach. We parked in De Vogelzang, a pretty large car park with only a short street walk to Den Burg town centre, plus there is a pretty neat dog treat shop there! There are smaller car parks dotted around the middle the forest, for example the one on Monnikenweg, but there are only spaces for about 10 or so cars there. You can give it a try or just play it safe in one of the larger parking areas.

There is so much to write about for dog friendly walks in Texel that we have separated it into two posts, one for Beaches and one for Forests.

This is probably the clearest map of the dog areas on Texel we have found. In addition to this, pretty much all restaurants and cafes are dog friendly.

Pros:

Diverse island with forests, dunes, beaches and cafes
Extremely dog friendly island all year round
A full and interesting day out for both people and pups

Cons:

Keep an eye out for spontaneous ferry time adjustments
Very touristy island, can get busy in some beach areas in summer

Location:

De Koog, Netherlands

Westenschouwen, Zeeland

On the island Schouwen-Duiveland, at the Kop van Schouwen (the outermost headland of the island) is a large hiking area that has a small off leash zone in the middle of the dunes.

As Zeeland caters mostly for tourists it is less open to free running dogs than other areas in the Netherlands. However although this whole dunes area may be mostly on leash walking, it is quite lovely so don’t skip it just because your pup prefers his freedom, the pathways and sniffing opportunities are so extensive that your pup will come out feeling very enriched even without running free, and you can always reward his patience with a little leg stretch at the off leash zone. It’s not a big off leash area but there is enough space to throw a frisbee around and have a little fun.

We parked in Westenschouwen, there is a large enough car park there right next to the Brasserie Zeelust (Steenweg 15, 4382 RL). Walk to the roundabout at the car park entrance and then along Kraaijensteinweg for about 10 minutes, and you will come across a kind of large rust coloured barrel with a pointy lid next to a sign saying “Duinen van Schouwen”. Walk up here, past the little cafe and keep going into the park.

The off leash area is north-west of where you start, and can be found in Google Maps, if you just search for “MPJ6+C7 Burgh-Haamstede”. It is clearly marked from all sides. We took a very indirect route there and just enjoyed the lovely shaded walk on a hot day.

Surprisingly, although Zeeland is a hugely touristy area, we met about 2 other people and only 1 other dog on the whole walk in the middle of July. It seems most people aim for the town, or the beaches and cafes which leaves this lovely walking area very peaceful.

There is no water here at all, so do bring a bottle or two with you for both you and your pup.

Pros:

Peaceful and extensive walking area
Shady on hot days
Labyrinth of paths, make it as long or as short as you like

Cons:

Mostly it’s a leashed walk
No water at all

Location:

Steenweg 15 4382, Haamstede, Netherlands

Dunes, Egmond aan Zee

Egmond aan Zee is, like most of the beaches in the Netherlands, closed to dogs during the daytime in the summer months. However, you can still snap a little sea air in a section of the dunes adjacent to the beach.

The Dunes at Egmond aan Zee is surprisingly large, simply walking the perimeter will take you a good 45 minutes if you follow the fence line. Dogs are not allowed in the entire dunes area, the boundaries are marked with a regular wire fence, and where there are pathways that go outside this area, there are information boards showing you that’s as far as your dog goes. But this area is large enough for a decent stroll, if you zig-zag over the dunes in the middle you can easily add another half an hour to the perimeter tour. The parking nearby suggests this area is popular but I rarely see more than three or four other dogs being walked right into the dunes.

There are a number of garden allotments in the area, you can walk past them off leash but do keep your dog out of them, they are private grounds.

This is a true dune area, there are some plants and shrubs (including some heavenly scented rose shrubs) but only one small section with trees to speak of and very little shade. There is no really clean flowing water but a few large ditches fill up with water when it has rained enough and these can get a bit greasy looking after a while, so take some drinking water with you if it is hot.

The good thing about this area is, when it rains (and even if it rains for a whole month), because it’s predominantly a sandy ground it doesn’t get too boggy. Even if some of the allotments tend to get totally flooded, the surrounding ground drains pretty well.

The only poop bins are on the neighbouring streets rather than in the dunes directly. One is right on the corner of the dunes where the Boulevard meets Doctor Wiardi Beckmanlaan, the second is at the parking just off Doctor Wiardi Beckmanlaan close to Zwartendijk, and the third is at the end of a little pathway halfway around the dunes – there is a high open area with a seat on it, just to the side of this is a small pathway, and about 20m down is a poop bin/poop bag dispenser.

There are two parking areas, either directly on the Boulevard itself and walk into the dunes at the corner, or along the pathway at the side of the beach. I tend to park on the other side of the dunes in Doctor Wiardi Beckmanlaan, it often has spaces in summer even if the entire Boulevard is fully parked. There are parking fees in all areas in the summer months, but outside the summer period during the week, unless there is a special holiday or event, parking is usually free.

Pros: