10 autumn experiences in the national park
Autumn has arrived, and nature has put on its most beautiful seasonal colours. Here are 10 tips for great autumn experiences in the national park for both children and adults.
1. Enjoy the autumn colours along the Skjoldungestien trail
Tie your hiking boots, grab your windbreaker, and set off along Skjoldungestien. This 40-kilometre trail runs from Roskilde to Hvalsø via Gl. Lejre, and from Gevninge to Osted. In autumn, the stretch from Roskilde through Boserup Forest – or from Hvalsø through the Bidstrup Forests – is particularly beautiful. Along the route, you’ll find shelter sites where you can take a break and enjoy a cup of coffee surrounded by the season’s rich colours.
2. Fly a kite
Autumn means windy days. When the children tire of jumping in puddles, you can collect long, straight sticks and build kites indoors. You’ll find plenty of simple kite-making guides online. When the rain stops, head out to fly your kite – for example at Vigen Beach Park or any open area free of too many trees.
©Nationalpark Skjoldungernes LandPhoto:Hans Henrik Erhardi
3. Go on a mushroom safari
Right now, nature is full of mushrooms, and you don’t need to be an expert to enjoy a mushroom safari. Mushrooms come in a remarkable variety of colours and shapes. See how many you can find and bring a mushroom guidebook to identify them. Mushrooms also make excellent subjects for drawing or photography, so bring a camera or sketching materials.
If you want to collect edible mushrooms, it’s a good idea to start out with someone who knows them well. Beginners should start with bolete mushrooms, as Denmark only has two poisonous species – both rare. This makes boletes a safe choice for newcomers.
Photo:Bjørn Petersen
4. Mushroom safari – for children
Mushroom trips can be just as enjoyable for children as for adults. Bring a bucket and fill it with different mushrooms. Look them up in a guidebook to see which ones are poisonous, search for special characteristics, and invent magical powers for them. Try also finding puffballs and watch the cloud of spores that appears when you gently tap them.
Photo:Anja Hermod Stavad
5. Make sloe schnapps
Sloes grow in many places across Skjoldungernes Land National Park, and now is the right time to pick them. The berries grow on thorny shrubs often found at forest edges, hedgerows and open grasslands. Take a couple of handfuls home and freeze them to ensure they have been exposed to frost – this gives a milder flavour. Pour the frozen berries into schnapps or vodka, add a little sugar or honey, and let it infuse for 3–4 weeks before straining. Then it’s ready for Christmas.
©VisitfjordlandetPhoto:Mette Holmgren
6. Make a mobile from maple and sycamore seeds
Head into the national park and look for maple and sycamore trees. Their hand-shaped leaves display beautiful yellow and red colours at this time of year. The seeds have little wings and spin through the air like propellers when you toss them. Collect 20–50 seeds to make a decorative autumn mobile. Tie a small stone to the end of a long thread and thread the seeds on one by one. When the mobile is long enough, it's finished.
7. Watch the autumn bird migration
Bring binoculars and something warm in a flask. There are many good birdwatching spots in the national park, including Jyllinge, the Kattinge Lakes, Møllekrogen and Selsø Lake. Millions of birds are currently flying south in search of food. Some of these migratory birds pass directly over the national park, making autumn an exciting time for birdwatching — especially birds of prey heading southwest.
Photo:Ole Malling
8. Explore pine cones
You’ll find plenty of cones on the forest floor in Boserup Forest or the Bidstrup Forests. Collect some and take a closer look. The most beautiful ones can be brought home for decorations or crafts. See if you can find ones that have been eaten: mice nibble the scales neatly all the way to the centre, while squirrels leave a more ragged cone. Woodpeckers are the messiest, hammering the cone apart and leaving it very torn.
9. Light a fire and embrace the darkness
Autumn brings longer nights. Take a friend and some dry firewood to one of the shelter areas – for example in Boserup Forest, the Bidstrup Forests or near Gl. Lejre – and light a campfire. Make coffee over the flames and let the darkness settle around you. Listen to the sounds of the night, such as the tawny owl. Choose a clear evening so you can enjoy the stars, galaxies, planets and satellites – and perhaps even spot the International Space Station gliding across the sky as a bright dot.
Photo:Mette Holmgren
10. Make hot chocolate and pancakes over the fire
It’s exciting for children to experience the dark and the sounds of night-time, but shelter cosiness is just as enjoyable before night falls. Bring a pot, a pan, some firewood, cocoa, pancake batter and perhaps a few marshmallows. Make hot chocolate and cook pancakes over the fire, and curl up in blankets or sleeping bags if it gets cold.