The forest here is the Veluwe, the biggest unbroken stretch of woodland, heath and drifting sand in the Netherlands, a raised plateau in the province of Gelderland that was pushed up by glaciers in the last ice age. It is odd to think of the flat country having a ridge at all, but the Veluwe rises to a hundred metres or so in places, and the roads wind between pines, oaks and beeches in a way that feels almost un-Dutch. The nearest villages are Otterlo, Harskamp and Wekerom, small and tidy, and the town of Ede is the bigger place with fuel and supermarkets about twelve kilometres away.
Nearby is the Hoge Veluwe National Park, which charges at the gate and is known for its free white bicycles. It contains the Kröller-Müller Museum, with one of the finest collections of Van Gogh's work in the world, and a sculpture garden in the woods. The museum was created by Helene Kröller-Müller and her husband Anton, who bought the surrounding land for hunting and then opened it to the public. Riders can park at the entrance and walk or cycle in, which is a pleasant change of pace.
The forest roads around the park are quiet and smooth, with a mixture of brick and asphalt, and cycle paths running alongside. Speed limits here are strictly enforced, and eighty kilometres per hour is the usual limit on roads outside built-up areas, with some sections lower. Cameras are common, and the police take noise seriously, so ride calmly and enjoy the forest rather than racing through it. The bends are gentle and long, not tight, and the pleasure is more about atmosphere than technical riding: golden light through pine trunks, heather in bloom in late summer, and a smell of resin and warm sand.
Wildlife is plentiful. Red deer, roe deer, wild boar and the mouflon, a wild sheep, live in the woods, and they cross roads at dawn and dusk. In autumn, the rutting season brings the bellowing of stags across the heath, which is quite a sound in the early light. Sand drifts, among the largest areas of inland dunes in western Europe, appear in clearings, and can blow onto the road in dry weather.
There is little in the way of services in the forest, so fill up and eat before you go. Otterlo has a few cafes and bakeries, and the museum has a cafe too.