Store Dyrehave is a forest located south of Hillerød. The area used to be a royal deer park for hunting, established by King Christian IV in 1628. From the crossing known as the ‘royal star’ in the middle of the forest, eight roads spread throughout the verdant landscape. During King’s reign, a design like that allowed hunters to have good visibility of the area during a hunt, especially because the grounds at that time only had a few large trees, low-lying bushes, and extensive grasslands. Together with Gribskov and Jægersborg Deer Park, this forest has been designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Apart from the fantastic nature, you can also encounter relics from the past, like remnants of the old road complex or groove stones – boulders with grooves left by stonemasons’ work. There are many military bunkers scattered throughout the forests. I have read, though, that the military is on its way out, and some of the bunkers are now used as an archive for storing old films and negatives from the Danish Film Institute.
If you are into mountain biking, you will definitely like Store Dyrehave. The landscape is hilly, so the forest seems like a perfect place for mountain biking with specially designated paths for them.
If you are interested to know more about sights, follow the link to a map with all the attractions.
