GREEN DIVIDE – Official Guide and FAQ

Many of the shared (walking) trails on the route are not suitable for high speeds or large groups. Keep your company small and friendly. If slow riding is not for you, the Green Divide is also not for you. Organised rides with commercial intent are not permitted on the route without permission from me and the relevant land management organizations.

Most paths used in the route are not accessible at night: after sunset, until sunrise. After dark wildlife considers what little nature we have as safe. Riding or camping unexpectedly disturbs both animals and the already sensitive relationship between riders and land managers. This may result in big fines or worse: access closures.

Free riding off designated paths is generally not permitted in nature. The Green Divide consciously uses open, permitted trails. While I keep the route as up-to-date as possible, you are always responsible for your own adventure and must respect access signs. As they are written in Dutch, be sure to have a translation app like the Google App installed on your phone.

The Green Divide route makes use of trails on Kroondomein Het Loo (Crown Estate) of which big parts are closed during the autumn hunting season. To accommodate riders who love riding in autumn until Christmas, I developed the Brown Divide, an adapted version of the Green Divide. The Brown Divide replaces several Kroondomein trails on the central Veluwe with alternative, equally beautiful routes. In autumn, for example, you ride along stunning unpaved heathland tracks near Vierhouten that are not featured in the Green Divide. This way, you can fully enjoy the richly brown-coloured landscape in autumn.

I keep the route up to date with great care and dedication. If you want to share your gratitude, you can share your adventures on Instagram via @green.divide and treat me to a cup of coffee for the effort via Buy Me A Coffee. I truly appreciate it. 🙂

Forgot something at home? At the official starting point of the route, Naarden-Bussum Train Station, there are a few facilities available, such as a coffee café. There is also a water tap outside in front of the station building for filling your bottles. In addition, several supermarkets can be found in the immediate vicinity, the town of Bussum.

In the small town of Lage Vuursche (home of our former Queen: Princess Beatrix), you’ll find several cafés and restaurants. However, it is also a fairly well-known and therefore busy tourist village. A better option might be to cycle a little further along the route and stop in the forest at the beautifully situated ‘Buiten in de Kuil’. It can also be busy here, especially at weekends, but they are used to cyclists, and at the very least you can refill your bottles.
Website: https://www.buitenindekuil.nl/

You’ll find this spacious café‑restaurant pavilion immediately after crossing the runway of the former Soesterberg airbase. You can sit either on the large outside terrace or inside. Your bike will be just out of sight, so bringing a lock might be a good idea.
Website: https://soesterdal.nl/

A little tucked away on the right-hand side of the road, this fairly new lunch spot is perfectly located on the Utrechtse Heuvelrug, just before you enter 16 kilometres of ‘nothing’. The owners are very welcoming to Green Divide cyclists. In addition to coffee, lunch, and even local products to take on the go, there is an outdoor tap so you can refill your bottles even outside opening hours.
Website: https://heerlijkheuvelrug.nl/

At De Proloog, cycling is at the heart of the experience, and as a cyclist, you are naturally the guest of honour. This makes De Proloog a perfect spot for a stop: coffee, a piece of cake, or lunch. They also very conveniently sell a selection of sports nutrition and spare items such as inner tubes. Handy if you happened to forget something at the start. After De Proloog, there is a stretch along the route where you won’t come across any facilities for a while.
Website: https://deproloog.cc/

This petrol station at the traffic lights in Rhenen is by no means a stop for the atmosphere, but it is directly on the route. I mention it because for the next several dozen kilometres, it is the last opportunity to stop without leaving the route. Still, I think it’s better to plan your stops more deliberately, perhaps by venturing slightly off the route to make a stop in, for example, the centre of Wageningen. For those who are curious: this petrol station sells sandwiches, bars, and bottled drinks, just like any other petrol station.

Although Bike & Eat is slightly off the route, this cyclist‑friendly stop, situated near the midpoint of the route, is definitely worth a visit. The always friendly Daphne and Barney rent bikes for the day and have space both inside and outside for anyone looking for food and drinks, or even an ice cream. They also sell sports nutrition and, of course, will gladly refill your bottles.
Website: https://www.bikeandeat.nl/

Although the route does not officially pass through the centre of Beekbergen, you will find several cafés and a supermarket there, very close to the route. Just outside the village, you cycle past the Spelderholt estate. At the hotel‑restaurant there, you can also grab something to eat or refill your bottles.

The former garage building right next to the iconic Radio Kootwijk Building A, is just as atmospheric as the name suggests: not at all. Even the terrace is little more than a paved courtyard. Opening hours are also not always reliable, and De Garage is often closed during the winter months. Still, I always enjoy stopping at De Garage, especially on warmer days, as it’s beautifully set right in the middle of nature.
Website: https://www.garage-radiokootwijk.nl/

A place that many might not understand, but which has earned a lot of love from me, is Halte Assel, a snack bar located on the site of a former train station. While De Garage is sometimes closed, Halte Assel is seemingly always open, and pleasantly busy all year round. They have everything you’d expect from a café‑style eatery. You can take a seat on their large outdoor terrace, or one of the few indoor seats. Very handy is their toilet with an outdoor tap just to the left of the building, which you are welcome to use for free.
Website: https://www.halteassel.nl/

This former royal hunting lodge is situated on one of the highest points of Kroondomein het Loo (Crown Estate). Today, it serves as a very charming lunchroom set in the middle of nature. Reservations may be necessary, especially on weekends. If they have space, this historic Royal family lodge is certainly worth a visit. Please take your time to freely roam the first floor, which serves as a kind of museum.
Website: https://www.edlaardhuis.nl/

Right on the route, you’ll find Brasserie ’t Genot van Garderen and, just across the street, Cafeteria De Bourgondiër. Both offer food and drinks for passing cyclists, before you soon enter the Speulderbos. Just south of the route, the village has more cafés and two supermarkets: PLUS and SPAR.

After Garderen, you won’t come across any facilities for about 40 kilometres directly on the route. This makes the village a perfect spot for a stop.

After Garderen, Elspeet is the first village where you’ll suddenly find food and drink options again. Directly on the route, you cycle past Pannenkoekenhuis 1760 (which has an outdoor tap) and restaurant Op de Brink. About 400 metres off the route, on the southern side of the village, you’ll also find the locally famous bakery Bakker Piet and a PLUS supermarket for resupply.

After Elspeet, you’ll ride again for several dozen kilometres through nature without coming across any facilities directly on the route.

In the middle of nature, you’ll suddenly cycle past (pancake) restaurant De Ossenstal. This fairly large restaurant has plenty of space both inside and outside, making it a good stop for lunch, a pancake (or something else), or simply a drink. Of course, it’s also a convenient place to refill your bottle with water.
Website: https://ossenstal.nl//

Although the official finish of the route is at the Grote Markt in Zwolle, I highly recommend easing off the pedals just before at Bennies. The owner is a cyclist, so (if you ask politely) you can usually keep your bike inside. They also have a great kitchen and, on top of that, delicious craft beers on tap. For me, Bennies is the perfect place to finish the Green Divide.
Website: https://bennieszwolle.nl/

Those who are tired or simply want to celebrate the ride a little longer can also stay overnight. Bennies is part of the hostel ‘De Basis’, which is housed in the same building.
Website: https://debasiszwolle.nl/en/

This natural campsite is located a few kilometres off the route. Relatively early in the route, this campsite is mainly suitable for those taking four or more days to complete the ride, or for those starting later in the day.

These two natural campsites are located close to each other and right on the route. They are perfectly situated for a first overnight stop if you are riding the Green Divide in three days.

This natural campsite on the Loenermark near Loenen always has space for small tents on the large trekkersveld. The site is located exactly halfway along the route, making it ideal if you are riding the route in two days.

This natural campsite is located a few kilometres off the route, just after Radio Kootwijk, and is mainly suitable for those cycling the route in three or four days as a second or third overnight stop.

Close to the route is the charming natural campsite Drie, located in the hamlet of the same name in the middle of the Speulderbos. In terms of distance, it is perfectly situated as a second overnight stop for those riding the route in three days.

For those who prefer to go a little further (or if Drie is fully booked) you can try the Veluwse Bush Camp natural campsite after the Ermelose Heide (km 219).

Those taking four or more days to cycle the Green Divide can stop at the De Toekomst natural campsite in Emst. It’s also useful if you encounter setbacks along the way and can’t make it to Zwolle before dark, serving as an extra overnight stop. The campsite is a few kilometres off the route, around km 268.

No. The Green Divide is made possible in part by Komoot. For this reason, the most recent version of the route can only be saved and downloaded via their platform. You can easily create a free profile at Komoot.com.

The Green Divide is not extremely technical, but the combination of distance (300 km), unpaved and sometimes loose surfaces (there’s more sand than you think), elevation gain, and, of course, the weight of your bikepacking gear makes it a challenging ride by Dutch standards. Forest maintenance works and weather conditions, such as rain or drought, can further affect the difficulty of the ride.

A solid base level of fitness is therefore required to cycle the Green Divide. Experience with off‑road cycling will certainly help along the way.

Annually from 15 September until 24 December, instead of the Green Divide, the Brown Divide should be cycled. This is due to seasonal closures in Kroondomein het Loo (Crown Estate). The Brown Divide is largely the same as the Green Divide, swapping only some paths in the central Veluwe to provide a legal alterernative that maintains the same overall distance.

No. The route does not use licensed MTB trails in the Utrechtse Heuvelrug or the Veluwezoom. Selected singletracks and official mountainbike routes in the route, such as those near Ede and Zwolle, can be cycled without a permit.

Not entirely. Due to certain sections (such as the singletracks of the Ede MTB route), the route cannot be cycled in the opposite direction. In addition, cycling freely in those forests is not permitted, meaning you would have to ride part of your alternative route along a busy car road. In general, the experience and flow are much better when riding towards Zwolle, like intended.

The route is deliberately designed as a cross‑section of the largest combined forest areas in the Netherlands: the Utrechtse Heuvelrug and the Veluwe, from point A to point B. To achieve this, I select the most beautiful legal trails, weaving through both forests. By the end of the route in Zwolle, you have fully explored the forests, so the route naturally ends there. Since the route starts at a train station, most people take the train back home afterwards from Zwolle.

Cycling back:
Planning a return route through the forest on different paths is tricky due to limited accessibility for cyclists. Outside the forest, you can cycle through the polders along Amersfoort. As this doesn’t fit the Green Divide experience, you can plan this yourself in Komoot.

Continuing onward:
Some people choose to keep riding towards the Sallandse Heuvelrug or Drenthe. It’s a beautiful area, but since it isn’t directly or indirectly connected to the Veluwe, this isn’t part of the Green Divide. Again, you can plan this yourself in Komoot if you wish.

Although the route includes some gravel, the Green Divide is not a gravel route. It is an unpaved bikepacking route best tackled with a gravel bike or mountain bike.

I recommend tyres at least 40mm wide with some tread (e.g., Schwalbe G-ONE R). Even better are 45mm or even 50mm wide tyres. In the autumn and early spring, it’s worth fitting tyres with more tread (e.g., Schwalbe G-ONE RX).

You won’t be the first to cycle the Green Divide with a dog or child(ren). However, the unpaved route is sometimes technical and narrow, making it less suitable for standard trailers and bike carts. Special trailers, such as the Tout Terrain Singletrailer, are better suited for the route, though they do make riding more challenging.

Absolutely. I really appreciate feedback like that. In support of my efforts you can leave a contribution via ‘Buy Me a Coffee’. Thank you!