Utrecht Hill Ridge ( nl, Utrechtse Heuvelrug) is a ridge of low sandhills that stretches in a direction from southeast to northwest over the Dutch province of

Utrecht Utrecht ( , , ) is the List of cities in the Netherlands by province, fourth-largest city and a List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality of the Netherlands, capital and most populous city of the Provinces of the Netherlands, pro ...

and over a part of

North Holland North Holland ( nl, Noord-Holland, ) is a province of the Netherlands in the northwestern part of the country. It is located on the North Sea, north of South Holland and Utrecht, and west of Friesland and Flevoland. In November 2019, it had a ...

. The total length of the region is about 50 km. It covers an area of approximately 23,000

hectare The hectare (; SI symbol: ha) is a non-SI metric unit of area equal to a square with 100-metre sides (1 hm2), or 10,000 m2, and is primarily used in the measurement of land. There are 100 hectares in one square kilometre. An acre is a ...

s. The part of the ridge in North Holland is commonly called ''Het Gooi'' in Dutch, the

Gooi The Gooi () is an area around Hilversum, in the centre of the Netherlands. It is a slightly hilly area characterised by its green landscape, its historical charm, the wealth of its inhabitants, and its villas. The Gooi is known in the Netherlan ...

(area) in English. Utrecht hill ridge netherlands

On the southeastern side the ridge rises sharply from the valley of the

Nederrijn 300px, Course of the Nederrijn Nederrijn (; "Lower Rhine"; not to be confused with the section called Lower Rhine further upstream) is the name of the Dutch part of the Rhine from the confluence at the town of Angeren of the cut-off Rhine bend ...

(“Lower Rhine”). Here the famous Grebbeberg (“Grebbe Mountain”) forms a landmark (52 m. high) where

Battle of the Grebbeberg The Battle of the Grebbeberg ( nl, Slag om de Grebbeberg) was a major engagement during the Battle of the Netherlands, which was a part of the World War II Operation ''Fall Gelb'' in 1940. Background In the 1930s, the Dutch government pursued ...

took place in 1940 as important part of

Battle of the Netherlands The German invasion of the Netherlands ( nl, Duitse aanval op Nederland), otherwise known as the Battle of the Netherlands ( nl, Slag om Nederland), was a military campaign part of Battle of France, Case Yellow (german: Fall Gelb), the Nazi Ge ...

. The highest peak of the ridge is the Amerongse Berg (“Amerongen Mountain”) of 68 m. On the northern side the ridge continues to the shores of the

Gooimeer The Gooimeer (Gooi Lake) is a bordering lake in the Netherlands between the southeastern part of North Holland (the Gooi) and Flevoland. There is a railroad bridge over the narrow west side, between Weesp and Almere Muziekwijk, with a parallel ...

(“Lake Gooi”). The Utrecht Hill Ridge was created 150.000 years ago as a

push moraine A push moraine or pushed moraine is in geomorphology a moraine (a landform formed by glacial processes) that forms when the terminus advance of a lowland glacier pushes unstratified glacial sediment into a pile or linear ridge in front of it. A ...

in the

Wolstonian Stage The Wolstonian Stage is a middle Pleistocene stage of the geological history of Earth from approximately 374,000 until 130,000 years ago. It precedes the Eemian Stage in Europe and follows the Hoxnian Stage in the British Isles. It is also appro ...

, a middle Pleistocene glacial period. Before that time the rivers

Rhine ), Surselva, Graubünden, Switzerland , source1_coordinates= , source1_elevation = , source2 = Rein Posteriur/Hinterrhein , source2_location = Paradies Glacier, Graubünden, Switzerland , source2_coordinates= , so ...

and

Meuse The Meuse ( , , , ; wa, Moûze ) or Maas ( , ; li, Maos or ) is a major European river, rising in France and flowing through Belgium and the Netherlands before draining into the North Sea from the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta. It has a t ...

flowed more north, and created deposits of sand. The glaciers pushed these deposits in a southern and western direction. After the last Ice Age the area got overgrown with woods. In historical times the population increased and woodlands were cleared for cattle and sheep. The Utrecht Hill Ridge was then largely covered with heather and sand drifts. In the 19th and 20th century large parts of the ridge were replanted with trees again. The Utrecht Hill Ridge has given name to: *

Utrechtse Heuvelrug Utrechtse Heuvelrug (; en, "Utrecht Hill Ridge") is a municipality in the Netherlands, in the province of Utrecht. It was formed on 1 January 2006 by merging the former municipalities of Amerongen, Doorn, Driebergen-Rijsenburg, Leersum, and Maarn ...

, a municipality in the southern part of the ridge, that was formed 1 January 2006 as a combination of the former municipalities of

Amerongen Amerongen () is a town in the municipality of Utrechtse Heuvelrug in the province of Utrecht, Netherlands, on the border of the Utrecht Hill Ridge. It lies about 7 km (4.3 mi) southwest of Veenendaal (10.5 km or 6.5 mi by road). The ...

Doorn Doorn is a town in the municipality of Utrechtse Heuvelrug in the central Netherlands, in the province of Utrecht. History In a document from 885 to 896, the settlement is called "Thorhem", dwelling of Thor, the God of Thunder. Vikings quarte ...

Driebergen-Rijsenburg Driebergen-Rijsenburg is a town in the municipality Utrechtse Heuvelrug in the central Netherlands, in the province of Utrecht. It is the home of Michelin starred restaurant La Provence. Transportation *Driebergen-Zeist railway station ...

Leersum Leersum is a town in the municipality of Utrechtse Heuvelrug in the Dutch province of Utrecht. It lies about 7 km (4.3 mi) east of Doorn and 9 km (5.5 mi) west of Veenendaal. In 2001, the town of Leersum had 6013 inhabitants. The ...

, and

Maarn Maarn is a town in the municipality of Utrechtse Heuvelrug in the Dutch province of Utrecht. It is located about 10 km (6.2 mi) east of Zeist Zeist () is the capital and largest town of the municipality of Zeist. The town is located i ...

. *

Utrechtse Heuvelrug National Park Utrechtse Heuvelrug National Park is a national park in the Dutch province of Utrecht. It covers the southern part of the Utrecht Hill Ridge. When it was founded in 2003, the park covered of heathlands, shifting sands, forests, grass lands and fl ...

, a national park in the southern part of the region, that was established 11 October 2003. It covers 6,000 hectares. Utrechtse Heuvelrug vanaf Elsterberg

External links

* {{Coord, 52, 3, 20.42, N, 5, 21, 7.08, E, source:nlwiki_region:NL_scale:200000_type:forest, display=title Ridges of Europe Regions of the Netherlands Regions of North Holland Regions of Utrecht (province) Landforms of North Holland Landforms of Utrecht (province)