Hollandse Duinen National Park is enormously diverse, ever-changing and always an experience. With a bit of luck, you will see foxes, roe deer and seals in the dunes; in the middle of the most densely populated area of the Netherlands.
The National Park is about more than just nature. Hollandse Duinen is unique because of the proximity to the sea, the villages and towns, the valuable nature in and around the dunes and the rich culture and history. The combination of natural and manufactured landscapes is what makes the area so Dutch. You can experience the interaction between man and nature. You can see the results of our old struggle against the water and our new connection with it.
Hoek van Holland is the starting point of the National Park and has various protected nature reserves. The van Dixhoorndriehoek, for example, is about 150 hectares of ‘new land’ made up of 19 million cubic metres of sand left over from the construction of the Europoort. National Water Board member and engineer Mr J. Van Dixhoorn decided to deposit the sand from behind the Noordpier at Hoek van Holland into the sea. This created a triangular coastal embankment called the van Dixhoorndriehoek. The sparse and open dune landscape is home to rare and specific flora and fauna. The Staelduinse Bos, located on the border between Hoek van Holland and ´s-Gravenzande, is also part of the Hollandse Duinen National Park. The forest is located on ancient river dunes that formed along the Maas and only started to grow on these dunes in 1850. The Zuid-Hollands Landschap manages both the van Dixhoorndriehoek and the Staelduinse Bos.
