1.1 kmThe Seven-Year Lakes in Frederikshåb Plantation
Located in the plantation, it shows the area’s changing groundwater and sandy lake landscape.
Frederikshåb Plantage is not just a dense conifer forest. It lies on the edge of Randbøl Hede, where windblown sand, inland dunes and plantation meet, and where the forest is gradually gaining more deciduous trees among the older Norway spruces. On a walk, the landscape can change from forest track to open heathland and sandy formations that tell the story of an area shaped by drifting sand.
The Syvårssøerne lakes in the middle of the plantation are among the places that do not quite behave as expected. The lakes follow the groundwater level and can therefore be both water-filled and dry; either as an open lake landscape with sandy beaches or as flat former lake beds with scattered trees.
Another distinctive feature is De rygende bjerge at Lille and Store Rygbjerg. The dunes are named after the drifting sand, which could make them look like smoking mountains. Here, the landscape is also linked to the story of the village of Rygbjerg, which according to records had eight farms but later disappeared without visible traces.
The plantation contains several visible layers of history: the forest road Langs Egene with an embankment from the first plantings, cairns from antiquity and remains of aircraft shelters from the Second World War. Wildlife is also part of the experience, but it requires quiet; red deer are shy, and the churring song of the nightjar is especially associated with early summer evenings.
The Seven-Year Lakes lie in “Klitterne” in Frederikshåb Plantation, where inland dunes and temporary lakes are part of the Natura 2000 area Randbøl Heath and dunes.
The name is based on an old observation: the lakes appeared roughly every seven years. In practice, they follow the groundwater level, and even heavy rain does not guarantee water. Some years the place can be a lake landscape with sandy beaches; other years, open, flat lake beds between dunes and plantation.