Rold Skov (Rold Forest) is a forest in

Himmerland Himmerland is a peninsula in northeastern Jutland, Denmark. It is delimited to the north and the west by the Limfjord, to the east by the Kattegat, and to the south by the Mariager Fjord. The largest city is Aalborg; smaller towns include Hobro, ...

Denmark Denmark is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe. It is the metropole and most populous constituent of the Kingdom of Denmark,, . also known as the Danish Realm, a constitutionally unitary state that includes the Autonomous a ...

. At 8,000 ha (19700 acres), it is the second largest forest in the country, after the

Silkeborg Forests Silkeborg Forests is Denmark’s largest forest. It comprises a collection of several independent private and public woodlands, that have been allowed to merge into a single connected forest south of the city of Silkeborg. At 22,400 ha, it is Denm ...

. The forest is named after the village of Rold which lies in the southern outskirt of the forest. Other towns in Rold Skov include

Arden Arden may refer to: Places Australia * Arden Street, North Melbourne, Victoria * Arden railway station, Melbourne Canada * Arden, Ontario Denmark * Arden, Denmark, a town ** Arden Municipality, a former municipality, including the town of Arden ...

, Rebild, and

Skørping Skørping is a railway town in Rebild Municipality in Region Nordjylland in the geographic region of the Jutland peninsula known as ''Himmerland'' in northern Denmark. The modern town has a population of 3,076 as of 1 January 2024.Rebild National Park, a natural site consisting of

heath A heath () is a shrubland habitat found mainly on free-draining infertile, acidic soils and is characterised by open, low-growing woody vegetation. Moorland is generally related to high-ground heaths with—especially in Great Britain—a coole ...

er-covered hills, is located in the northern parts of the forest. To the east of the town of Rebild, lies the abandoned

limestone Limestone is a type of carbonate rock, carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material Lime (material), lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different Polymorphism (materials science) ...

mines of Thingbæk ('Thingbæk Kalkminer'), now used for underground art exhibitions and an important site for five species of

hibernating Hibernation is a state of minimal activity and metabolic reduction entered by some animal species. Hibernation is a seasonal heterothermy characterized by low body-temperature, slow breathing and heart-rate, and low metabolic rate. It is most ...

bats Bats are flying mammals of the order Chiroptera (). With their forelimbs adapted as wings, they are the only mammals capable of true and sustained flight. Bats are more agile in flight than most birds, flying with their very long spread-out ...

in the winter months. The mines are administered through Rebildcentret, who also hosts various museums, activities and some conservation efforts in the area. South of Skørping is the Jyske Skovhave ('Jylland Forest Garden'), an open

arboretum An arboretum (: arboreta) is a botanical collection composed exclusively of trees and shrubs of a variety of species. Originally mostly created as a section in a larger garden or park for specimens of mostly non-local species, many modern arbor ...

begun in 1886 and displaying a variety of trees and shrubs from the

northern hemisphere The Northern Hemisphere is the half of Earth that is north of the equator. For other planets in the Solar System, north is defined by humans as being in the same celestial sphere, celestial hemisphere relative to the invariable plane of the Solar ...

. The forest is part of the

Natura 2000 Natura 2000 is a network of nature protection areas in the territory of the European Union. It is made up of Special Areas of Conservation and Special Protection Areas designated under the Habitats Directive and the Birds Directive, respectiv ...

network (#18 ''Rold Skov, Lindenborg Ådal og Madum Sø'') and is both an EU habitat and a Ramsar wetland of international importance. 75% of the forest is privately owned, primarily under the manors of Lindenborg, Nørlund and Willestrup. The state of Denmark owns and administers the rest.

History

Although Denmark is normally considered a safe country nowadays, Rold Skov was formerly associated with robberies and violent assaults for centuries. In the 1830s the authorities succeeded in unraveling maybe the largest gang of all, with more than a hundred robbers and courtcases spanning a total of seven years from 1837 to 1844. The events and the gangs' activities were later described in a novel by Danish writer

Steen Steensen Blicher Steen Steensen Blicher (11 October 1782, Vium – 26 March 1848 in Spentrup) was an author and poet born in Vium near Viborg, Denmark, Viborg, Denmark. Biography Blicher was the son of a literarily inclined Jutlandic parson whose family was ...

. The closed civil government atomic

bunker A bunker is a defensive military fortification designed to protect people and valued materials from falling bombs, artillery, or other attacks. Bunkers are almost always underground, in contrast to blockhouses which are mostly above ground. T ...

of Denmark, named Regan Vest ( :da:Regan Vest), is located in the forest.Nielsen, Adrienne Murray (2023
REGAN Vest: Inside Denmark's secret nuclear bunker

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

Flora, fauna, and funga

Rold Skov has a rich and varied fauna. It is home to a large variety of birds and the larger animals here are

red deer The red deer (''Cervus elaphus'') is one of the largest deer species. A male red deer is called a stag or Hart (deer), hart, and a female is called a doe or hind. The red deer inhabits most of Europe, the Caucasus Mountains region, Anatolia, Ir ...

, roe deer,

badger Badgers are medium-sized short-legged omnivores in the superfamily Musteloidea. Badgers are a polyphyletic rather than a natural taxonomic grouping, being united by their squat bodies and adaptions for fossorial activity rather than by the ...

and

fox Foxes are small-to-medium-sized omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. They have a flattened skull; upright, triangular ears; a pointed, slightly upturned snout; and a long, bushy tail ("brush"). Twelve species ...

, among many different smaller animals like

otter Otters are carnivorous mammals in the subfamily Lutrinae. The 13 extant otter species are all semiaquatic, aquatic, or marine. Lutrinae is a branch of the Mustelidae family, which includes weasels, badgers, mink, and wolverines, among ...

stoat The stoat (''Mustela erminea''), also known as the Eurasian ermine or ermine, is a species of mustelid native to Eurasia and the northern regions of North America. Because of its wide circumpolar distribution, it is listed as Least Concern on th ...

bat Bats are flying mammals of the order Chiroptera (). With their forelimbs adapted as wings, they are the only mammals capable of true and sustained flight. Bats are more agile in flight than most birds, flying with their very long spread-out ...

s and different kinds of

rodent Rodents (from Latin , 'to gnaw') are mammals of the Order (biology), order Rodentia ( ), which are characterized by a single pair of continuously growing incisors in each of the upper and Mandible, lower jaws. About 40% of all mammal specie ...

s including

squirrels Squirrels are members of the family (biology), family Sciuridae (), a family that includes small or medium-sized rodents. The squirrel family includes tree squirrels, ground squirrels (including chipmunks and prairie dogs, among others), and ...

. Large parts of the woods are dominated by various

conifer Conifers () are a group of conifer cone, cone-bearing Spermatophyte, seed plants, a subset of gymnosperms. Scientifically, they make up the phylum, division Pinophyta (), also known as Coniferophyta () or Coniferae. The division contains a sin ...

s and the flora of the forest floor is rather poor of species in most areas. Where chalk comes to the surface layers, it can present some rare and more interesting plant species though, like the rare lady's-slipper orchid growing side by side with plants like pennywort, smell fox and red helleborine for example. Note: In Denmark all orchids are to be protected and it is forbidden to pick them. Rold Skov supports a very broad array of

fungi A fungus (: fungi , , , or ; or funguses) is any member of the group of eukaryotic organisms that includes microorganisms such as yeasts and mold (fungus), molds, as well as the more familiar mushrooms. These organisms are classified as one ...

, with 5,000 different species and still counting. There are well-known eating mushrooms to be found, but also fungi like the peculiar ''Troldsmør'' ("Troll-butter" or ''

fuligo septica ''Fuligo septica'' is a species of slime mold in the class Myxogastria, Myxomycetes. It is common name, commonly known as scrambled egg slime or flowers of tan because of its peculiar yellowish appearance; it is also known as dog vomit slime mol ...

'') that can move around, the beautiful

fly agaric ''Amanita muscaria'', commonly known as the fly agaric or fly amanita, is a basidiomycete fungus of the genus ''Amanita''. It is a large white- gilled, white-spotted mushroom typically featuring a bright red cap covered with distinctive white ...

, the

tinder fungus ''Fomes fomentarius'' (commonly known as the tinder fungus, false tinder fungus, hoof fungus, tinder conk, tinder polypore or ice man fungus) is a species of fungal plant pathogen found in Europe, Asia, Africa and North America. The species pro ...

used for lighting fire in the old days or the deceptive bitter bolete.

In Literature

: ''Bettefanden''.

Gallery

File:Flest træer pr. kvadrat meter i Danmark - USIKKERT!.jpg, Nature scene File:Skovhave3.jpg, At the Jylland Forest Garden. File:Rebild Bakker 2007 - 01 ubt.jpg, Rebild Bakker ('Rebild hills'). File:Cimbrertyren.jpg, Art in Thingbæk Kalkminer.

Sources and references

Rold Skov
Naturstyrelsen.
Rold Skov
Rold Skov Natur- og Kulturcenter.

Naturturist Nordjylland
Forest Rold Skov
Danish
Rebild Rakker
Hills of Rebild Danish
Rold Skov Museerne
Knudepunkt for museerne i Rold Skov.

External links

Rebildcentret
English available.
Routes, pamphlets, maps
pdf-collection on Rold Skov and surroundings. Rold Skov Nature and Culturecenter
Rold Skov
Pictures from Rold Skov. {{Authority control Geography of Denmark Forests of Denmark Forestry in Denmark Arboreta in Denmark Special Areas of Conservation in Denmark Ramsar sites in Denmark Mariagerfjord Municipality Rebild Municipality