Saalandse Heuvelrug is a nature paradise in Overjissel, Netherlands.This is our first time to go here and have our autumn hike.My husband grew up hiking this area in his childhood and as usual , we are thankful that he brought us to enjoy a wonderful autumn hike in this place.

It´s hard for me to pronounce Dutch words, let alone spell them. I did quite read about this place and learned that it is actually a national park, protected by Staatsbosbeheer, a government section that take care of natural reserves and forestry.It´s located in N35; south part in the region of Zwolle-Almelo.

There´s actually no mountains in the Netherlands, but it´s quite fascinating that this place is actually evolved from a Moraine— a place more compared to a glacial till, that occurs in both currently and formerly glaciated regions.In short, this place exists metamorphesized during glacial penultimate times 150,000 years ago.This moraine has been a National Park since 2004 and feels almost out of place in the Netherlands due to the height differences.

Walking through the woods and along the heathland really made us feel that we are in another part of the world because this is actually such a unique place in Holland.

As we walked, i observed that the forest here is quite rich and covered most of the land areas. There is a large information center near the parking area that explains a lot about this place and the unique biodiversity culture it has. Naturally, it´s Autumn so I took the chance to look for unique mushrooms along the way.

Here are some variations I have seen during our walk.

The walk paths are really good, well signed and easy for the foot. It is so large that I think we only walked around an inch of it. The weather was so chilly, with frequent mild showers so we watched our distance. But then, it was really crowded and full of little children having their blast playing and having nature walks as well.

This place is also well known for bushwalking, cyclists, mountain bikers and even horse back riding. It is really a place that offers a lot of outdoor enjoynment. I am curious as to how this place looks like in Summer where the heathlands turns into a purple paradise!

I find autumn in the Netherlands really pretty. There are quite a number of trees here that I haven´t seen in Ingolstadt or in Bavaria so the foliage magic is really something.I had so much fun looking at these colorful mushroom that spreads along the paths covered with fallen leaves. There was a time that the sun shone and sunlight peaked through the trees and it was really a beautiful sight to witness.

There is so much peace found being alone in the forest.There´s no rush, no traffic,no deadlines only the pure beauty of nature undergoing seasonal changes.My husband told me about the purple plants that he gew up seeing on their walks here. The heathlands are home to heather, a characteristic plant in these parts. In the summer it blooms with beautiful purple flowers. In addition to these plants, there´s also the Erica heather in this area, which often produces small pink flowers and feels at home in the wetter parts of the park.This made me look forward to see them in late spring or summer when they transform this place into purple beauty.

I just can´t get enough of Dutch heritage including beautiful nature reserves like Saalandse Heuvelrug.Nature belongs to their DNA.For sure, we will be back once again to this place.

Few more weeks and Autumn will bid us goodbye but leaving me once again with wonderful colorful gallery. In my various morning runs, chasing the Fog, and mushroom hunting, I am still always in awe of how nature presents herself uniquely each day.

How is Autumn in your area so far?

Until then, Tschüß!