Path between dancing trees with fog in the Speulderbos in Ermelo Netherlands

by Bart Ros

Path among dancing trees with fog in the Speulderbos in Ermelo Netherlands.

The area lies in the northwest of the Veluwe, east of Putten in the municipalities of Putten (Sprielderbos) and Ermelo (Speulderbos). It is part of the Natura2000 area protected by European regulations. The area extends roughly between the road between Putten and Garderen in the south to the village of Garderen and the Houtdorperveld, the hamlet of Speuld and the Ermelose heath in the east and north. The size of the area is approximately 3,300 hectares. Of these, about 300 hectares of the Speulderbos, especially in the vicinity of the hamlet Drie, consists of trees that seem to dance because of their erratic shape. The Speulderbos is therefore popularly called the "forest of dancing trees".

Soil and geology
The subsoil is a north-south oriented lateral moraine, which consists of both loamy and loamy soil. The high-lying Speulder- en Sprielderbos has its highest point at Drie at over 55 meters above sea level. However, there are hardly any steep slopes to be found. The melting land ice of the last ice age carved out valleys here and deposited gravel and loam. The Laak is a winding path located on a municipal boundary in a meltwater valley.

In the Speulder forest is the Solse Gat, a pingoruin or possibly a pit created by meltwater flows during the ice age. The pit has been further enlarged by loam mining. The Solse Gat is botanically interesting and used to be an important watering p