Dutch Mountain Trail

The Netherlands has no mountains. The Dutch Mountain Trail came about as an answer to that. In 2020, for the tenth edition of the Dutch Mountain Film Festival, the makers drew up a walking route across the hills of South Limburg, modelled on the classic long-distance routes of the Alps. They wanted to know whether you can walk through the Netherlands as if it were a mountain tour. Four days and 2,000 metres of elevation later, the answer is: yes, with climbs, descents and views you will not find anywhere else in the country.

The trail links the Seven Summits, the seven peaks where the mountain feeling is at its strongest, and every climb has its own character. The Wilhelminaberg is not really a mountain at all: it is a spoil tip from the mines of Landgraaf, and the climb up through the old mining forest is the point. The Schneeberg rises on German soil, named after its white chalk ground, and the woods around it are still watched over by the concrete Dragon's Teeth of the Siegfried Line. The Gulperberg comes with a statue of Mary and a notorious climb that leaves cyclists grinding to the top, the Hakkenberg lies quiet on the Belgian border, and the final top, D'n Observant above Maastricht, is a man-made viewpoint hill in an old marl quarry. And the Vaalserberg, at 322 metres the highest point of the Netherlands and the three-country point with Germany and Belgium? It lies on the route but deliberately does not count as a summit. The mountain feeling is in the climb, the makers decided, not in a sign.

Between the summits, the trail gathers up everything that makes South Limburg different from the rest of the country: fast-flowing streams in beech woods, the water castle Haus Heyden, roadside crosses and small Marian shrines at almost every junction, hollow roads carved metres deep into the loess, vineyard terraces above the Geul valley and wide views over the surrounding hills. The finish is the most theatrical of all: through the ENCI quarry on the Sint Pietersberg, where turquoise water lies between white marl walls, the route descends into Maastricht.

Practical. The official itinerary runs to four stages of 23 to 28 kilometres, from Eygelshoven station in Kerkrade to Maastricht station. Many walkers spread the route over five or six days, with Vaals, Gulpen and Mheer as the natural overnight stops. The first and last stages begin and end at stations, and Vaals and Gulpen sit on railway lines, so walking individual days works, although not every stage transition can be closed by train. There is little food and drink on the hills: bring your own, and note that the ferry across the Meuse at Eijsden (April to October) only takes cash; if it is not running, there is an official eight-kilometre detour. The terrain is mostly unpaved and can be heavy after rain; trekking poles help on the steep hollow roads. Overnight options range from farm B&Bs in the hills to the full hotel offering of Maastricht. Book early for September and October, when the beech woods are at their best.