Schoorlse Duinen

Cycling route'Schoorlse Duinen\\\' offers a beautiful view over the North Sea, but also shows parts of Alkmaar and Bergen and leads through an extensive landscape of fields, dunes and forests. The heathlands, which can also be found in this area, are unique in combination with the dunes. Nowhere in the Netherlands are they wider or higher than here. With a bit of luck you will see a sand lizard foraging between the dunes, hear a pheasant or a nightjar whistling and enjoy tens of thousands of blooming orchids or 800 different species of mushrooms.

Once you get on your bike, you will come across the Geestmolen after 1.2 kilometers. This polder mill is an oak octagon on a low base and was built in 1565. The mill used to grind the corn that the Geestmolenpolder, a piece of land of 170 hectares, yielded. That function was abolished when a new housing estate was built in the polder.

After about two kilometers you will come across the remains of the Robonsbos mill. The predecessor of this mill was built around 1541 as a see-saw mill that was driven by the wind. This mill has now disappeared, and was also in a different location. The current mill was probably built around 1781 and is the only mill in the Netherlands with a wooden reel cross. In this construction, four half rods are clamped around a solid wooden axle. The mill cannot be visited from the inside, because it serves as a home.

Just before you cycle into Bergen, you will see another mill: the Damlander. This mill was probably built at the end of the 17th or the beginning of the 18th century. The mill is a holiday home and has fallen out of operation due to decay. In mid-2012, the mill was sold to a new owner, who is committed to restoration.

When you have cycled past this last mill and left Bergen behind you, you start the part of the tour that leads through the dunes. The wind is getting stronger and long before you can see it, the smell of the North Sea announces which direction you are cycling.