Discover Gjern Municipality

When planning a stay in Gjern Municipality, you can explore a range of nature and cultural features: the Ice Age landscape of Gjern Bakker, trails through Gjern Ådal and visible protected burial mounds in Gjern. When choosing a route, it is worth distinguishing between the individual trails and their conditions. Each offers a different focus, whether on the landscape, views or terrain.

Gjern Bakker and its viewpoints

Gjern Bakker is a hilly landscape shaped by the Ice Age. It formed as a terminal moraine in front of a glacier; meltwater carved a distinctive tunnel valley from it. A 33.5-hectare area of Gjern Bakker is owned by the Danish Nature Agency (Naturstyrelsen) and is managed primarily for nature and outdoor recreation. At 104 metres above sea level, Åshøj is the highest point in Gjern Bakker.

A hike to Store Troldhøj offers panoramic views of the Gjern Å, Gjern Ådal and the surrounding area of particularly valuable oak scrub. The “Gjern Bakker, Egekrat” route leads to oak scrub overlooking Sminge Sø. The viewpoints therefore highlight different landscape features: the river, valley and oak scrub in one direction, and views towards the lake in the other.

Protected burial mounds in Gjern

The visible burial mounds are also among the area’s distinctive landmarks. Bjerghøje is a protected burial mound in northern Gjern. Lodnehøje is also visible and protected; the mound lies west of Gjern. These location details help distinguish the monuments when exploring the cultural landscape.

Walking and cycling: trails and conditions

The “Gjern Bakker, Gjern Å og Gjern By” route starts at a holiday centre and passes through a side valley to Gjern Ådal. Gjern comes into view at the end of the railway path. Another marked trail, the “Forbindelsesrute ml. offentlige skov- og naturomr.”, crosses Gjern Ådal. The descriptions thus offer two distinct reference points: a route through a side valley, with Gjern at the end of the railway path, and a trail that crosses the valley.

For cycling, Gjern Tur/Natur is a marked figure-eight route. Its two loops meet at the Erik-Rådal statue in Gjern. The full route is 60 kilometres if you cycle the entire circuit. When planning, you can therefore weigh up the figure-eight layout against the distance of the complete ride.

Conditions on the “Gjern å stien” route vary by section. Some parts follow gravel paths and roads and are suitable for prams, pushchairs or wheelchairs. The riverside section, however, is an informal trail and can be difficult. So the suitability of the gravel sections should not be assumed to apply to the riverside path.

Egedalsmosen is privately owned. A marked trail was created in one part of the bog in 2013; it starts at the car park between Sørkelvej 67 and 69. Parts of the yellow-and-black route may be flooded or wet at times. Rubber boots or walking boots are recommended. This information can help you take trail conditions into account when planning your trip.

Discover more destinations: Vrads, Store Bredlund, Ry, Kongensbro, Linå, Them Municipality, Svostrup, Bryrup.

For the overview of the wider area: Silkeborg Municipality.