Mountain biking in Schoorl: 24 kilometres over three loops

Three waymarked loops lie side by side here: the Zuidroute, the south loop, of 8 kilometres, the Middenroute or middle loop of 9 and the Noordroute or north loop of 7. You ride all three anticlockwise and you can tie them together into a single round of 24 kilometres. Staatsbosbeheer, the Dutch state forestry service, is the owner; the volunteers of MTB Noordwest built the route and maintain it. The Noordroute and the Middenroute opened only in 2024, after thirteen years of planning and ten years of litigation over the permit in this Natura 2000 site.

Where does the MTB route in Schoorl start?

There is no one official starting point. MTB Noordwest names five starting locations, all of them at a car park, and from such a point you follow the route arrows to the beginning of the loop.

For the Noordroute and the Middenroute: the Schoorlse Zeeweg, 1 kilometre from the car park at the Buitencentrum, the visitor centre at Oorsprongweg 1. The Nieuweweg lies 1,850 metres from the Hargen aan Zee car park, Hargerstrandweg 1, and comes out on the Noordroute. For the Middenroute you can also go via the Julianalaan, 2,700 metres from the Buitencentrum.

For the Zuidroute: the Postweg near de Kuil, 275 metres from the Poelenburgh car park at Duinweg 66, and that is by far the shortest approach of them all. Or the Blijdensteinweg, 1,200 metres from the car park at Duinvermaak, Breelaan 132 in Bergen.

How long is the route really?

Staatsbosbeheer and MTB Noordwest both keep to 8, 9 and 7 kilometres, and add that up to 24. Those are rounded figures. The GPS measurements on mtbroutes.nl come out at 7.5, 9.0 and 6.4 kilometres, and when we checked the three route relations in OpenStreetMap we arrived at practically the same: 7.46, 9.03 and 6.37 kilometres. Together that is 22.9, not 24.

The difference is in the connections. Between the loops lie three separate link sections, good for roughly 1.3 kilometres together in OpenStreetMap. If you ride the whole round including those sections, you come out at a good 24 kilometres and the manager’s figure is right after all. If you ride one loop, count on the lower measurement.

How hard is it to ride?

The loops are classified according to the colour system of the NTFU, the Dutch cycling union. The Zuidroute is blue, that is to say average, and suitable for beginners. The Middenroute and the Noordroute are red, difficult, and consist of singletracks without chicken runs: you cannot go round a technical passage, you have to ride it. MTB Noordwest writes itself that those two are not suitable for the beginner or the average mountain biker.

On the height gain the sources differ widely. MTB Noordwest gives 190 metres for Zuid, 260 for Midden and 250 for Noord, 700 for the whole round together. The GPS measurements on mtbroutes.nl come to 124, 158 and 106, 388 together. That is nearly a factor of two apart, and which measuring method is right we have not been able to establish. Above, we keep to the manager’s own figure.

How long you take over a loop we have found at no source at all. That depends more on the sand here than on your fitness.

Riding after sunset is not allowed. As elsewhere in Natura 2000 sites, the route is closed from sunset to sunrise.

Can the dog come along?

In the Schoorlse Duinen (the Schoorl dunes) your dog may come along. From 1 March to 1 September on a lead only, because birds nest on the ground. For the rest of the year he may run free if he comes when called, except in the grazing areas, where Kempen heath sheep and a couple of goats have been grazing since August 2026.

A rule specifically about dogs on the mountain bike route we have not found, neither at Staatsbosbeheer nor at MTB Noordwest. Do consider what kind of trail this is: one-way, narrow, blind bends and riders coming at you without your hearing them. A loose dog on a singletrack is a bad plan for both parties.

Where do you park?

At the Buitencentrum at Oorsprongweg 1, parking costs 2.45 euros per hour (2026 rate, municipality of Bergen). In zone A that rises after an hour and a half to 4.90 euros per hour with no daily maximum; in zone B it stays 2.45 with a maximum of 14.70 euros a day. From 1 March to 1 November you pay daily from 10.00 to 19.00, from 1 November to 1 March on Saturday and Sunday only. Navigate to Heereweg 62; the road opposite it is the Oorsprongweg.

If you come into the Noordroute via Hargen aan Zee, zone F applies there: also 2.45 euros per hour, but with a daily maximum of 7.35 euros, and from 1 November to 1 March you park free. Of the sites in the municipality of Bergen, Hargen therefore has the lowest daily maximum.

Whether the Poelenburgh car park on the Duinweg and the site at Duinvermaak in Bergen fall under the same paid parking, we have not been able to verify site by site. The municipality’s rate table names only zones, not individual car parks.

What do you come across along the way?

Steep climbs and descents, small drops down, step-ups going up and hairpin bends that run both uphill and downhill. On top of that, wooden boardwalks, which are there against erosion and for the sand lizards, and which can be slippery after rain. Then tree roots, loose sand that can lie on those boardwalks too, pine cones and acorns. On the Zuidroute lie the segments MTB Noordwest itself calls iconic: de Nok, de Kuil and the drops.

Walking and bridle paths cross the route, and you are not allowed to cycle on those.

Two things that are not on the signs. Mobile coverage in the Schoorlse Duinen is poor to non-existent, so if you have to call 112, the European emergency number, give the number shown on the nearest route post. And MTB Noordwest puts a current trail status on its own site, saying how the sand is lying that week. After a dry week, or after a lot of rain, that is worth checking before you get in the car.