The Klimduin in Schoorl: 51 metres of sand in the middle of the village

The dune is roughly 110 metres long, with a slope that in places is steeper than 25 per cent. Vehicles are not allowed on it. It is not wheelchair accessible, though the square below it and the cafes are. Locally it takes the article het, so het Klimduin, not de.

Where can you park?

The nearest paid car park is on the Roode Leeuw, about 90 metres from the foot: 47 spaces according to OpenStreetMap, 1 of them a disabled space. The VVV, the local tourist office, points instead to the Sportlaan/Molenweg, 340 metres further on, which has disabled spaces.

Parking costs 2.45 euros per hour. 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. On winter weekdays you park free. Public holidays count as ordinary days. With a disabled parking permit you pay nothing.

Can the dog run free?

Dogs are welcome in the Schoorlse Duinen all year round. From 1 March to 1 September on a lead only, outside that period off the lead under voice control. Different rules apply in the grazing areas, marked with signs. Staatsbosbeheer, the Dutch state forestry service, stretches that breeding season: the nightjar nests on the ground and raises its young until late in August.

Note that this is likely to change. The draft Natura 2000 management plan of the province of Noord-Holland imposes a lead requirement across the whole area, all year round. It was open for public inspection for six weeks from 9 March 2026. Whether it has been formally adopted, we have not been able to establish. Checked on 3 September 2026.

What stands at the foot of the dune?

Since 28 May 2025 there has been a life-size bronze statue of Teun de Jager, with dog, gun and a bag holding a shot partridge. Teun comes from Camera Obscura by Nicolaas Beets. The design, by Guust Persoon, was chosen by the people of Schoorl themselves.

On the corner of Heereweg and Duinvoetweg stood the inn De Roode Leeuw, until 1991. Back then a wooden staircase with an entrance gate led to the top. Guests of the inn climbed free of charge, everyone else paid a dubbeltje, a small coin. The street beside the dune is still called Roode Leeuw.

What happens on the dune?

Since at least 1573 the Meidenmarkt has been held here on Whit Monday, originally the vrijstermarkt or spinsters’ market: the women up on the dune, the men at the foot, to see who was still single. Since the municipal version with fences and a marquee failed in 2014, the day is no longer busy.

Since 2007 AV Trias has organised the KlimduinRun, 110 metres uphill as fast as possible, and since 2022 every two years. Fastest times recorded: 23.17 seconds (Peter Wolters, 2010) and 28.84 seconds (Marit Dopheide, 2015).

At the end of September the final phase of the redevelopment of the village centre starts, between the existing car park and the ramp of the Paardenmarkt. Exactly where you park. The Klimduinplein itself is already finished.