Højlyngsstien · Stage 1
Walking time measured on the mapped line (TrailSplits time model, moving time; within 22 % on four in five test legs). Outside Switzerland our walking times often run short of the times route operators publish; treat them as optimistic. Climb measured on the mapped line, on terrain heights.
From the beach by the campsite at Sandvig over Hammerknuden, past Opalsøen and Hammershus and through Ravnedalen to Olsker: about 11 km, Naturstyrelsen says. The first half is hilly, rocky and steep on small narrow paths, the hardest stretch of the trail. Shelters stand at Opalsøen, in Ravnedalen and on the coast at Hammerhavn, and there is a primitive tent site at Egeløkke. Lyngholt Familiecamping, open all year, is about 800 m up Borrelyngvej. Olsker has no place to sleep, only a bus: the plans sleep at Lyngholt instead.
Best season: All year. The trail can be walked all year with the right clothes and boots, Destination Bornholm says, and the shelters and free-camping forests are open all year. Cafés and kiosks on the way are seasonal: the Krølle-Bølle kiosk in Ekkodalen opens from 1 April to 1 October and in the autumn holiday (12 to 18 October in 2026). The path along Øle Å on stage 6 is very wet in winter, Naturstyrelsen says. Before you go
Facts read from the guide's sources and OpenStreetMap on 13 October 2026. A page can change after we read it, so confirm with your accommodation before you rely on a date or a bed.
Stage start
Town
The start, on the beach by the campsite at Sandvig on the north-west tip of Bornholm. The bus stop Sandvig Gl. Station is about 700 m away, Naturstyrelsen says.
A town or village: find accommodation yourself. TrailSplits has not checked what is open.
Stage end
Trailhead
A hamlet with no place to sleep, Naturstyrelsen says, but buses cross the trail here (the stop near Rønnevej 56). Lyngholt Familiecamping, about 3 km back on stage 1, is the nearest night.
Naturstyrelsen, stage 1: about 11 km; it publishes no walking time for any stage, only that a stage of 9 to 12 km takes 2 to 4 hours. naturstyrelsen.dk, read 13 October 2026
Make it your trip
There is nothing to book: the shelters, primitive sites and free-camping forests are free, first come first served, for one night, Destination Bornholm says; only the Rundemose and Finnedalen sites can be booked, by groups. The one campsite near the trail is Lyngholt Familiecamping on stage 1, open all year. Carry a tent, or be ready to sleep in a shelter, and carry all your food: there are no shops between Sandvig or Allinge and Aarsdale, only a few seasonal cafés and kiosks.
The whole trail in six days, a night at a campsite, a shelter or a tent site.
Plan this journeyStage 1 as a day walk over Hammerknuden and by Hammershus, with a bus at each end.
Plan this journeyLoading the forecast for on the trail (57 m)…
Typical weather on this stage, around 4–110 m. Select a month to see why it is rated as it is.
| Month | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Weather | Poor | Poor | Mixed | Good | Good | Good | Good | Good | Good | Good | Mixed | Mixed |
| Day / night | 3°/0° | 3°/-1° | 5°/1° | 9°/3° | 14°/7° | 18°/12° | 20°/14° | 21°/15° | 17°/12° | 12°/8° | 8°/4° | 5°/2° |
| Rain, mm | 47 | 39 | 36 | 28 | 37 | 50 | 60 | 60 | 63 | 65 | 59 | 59 |
| Snow at high point | Possible | Possible | Possible | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | Frost |
| Daylight | 7 h 42 | 9 h 38 | 11 h 44 | 14 h 04 | 16 h 08 | 17 h 23 | 16 h 55 | 15 h 06 | 12 h 50 | 10 h 36 | 8 h 26 | 7 h 10 |
Source: TerraClimate 1991–2020 monthly averages. Averages for the area at each point’s elevation (4 km grid, corrected for height). Not a forecast or a report of current trail conditions. Snow at the high point is estimated with a simple snowpack model from these temperatures and precipitation, not observed; steep islands and high summits can hold more snow than it shows. Daylight is for the 15th of each month. Hut, transport and park seasons are separate: check them for your dates.
Before you go
Arrange your stays, food and travel first, then check conditions again near departure.
Water is sparse. From the restroom at Hareløkkerne it is about 20 km to the next water post; stage 5 has no water, shop or place to stay, and the Bastemose shelter has no toilet or water. The toilets on the stage maps have drinking water. Read 13 October 2026.
Destination Bornholm: HøjlyngsstienStage 1 over Hammerknuden and by Hammershus is rocky and steep on narrow paths, and Paradisbakkerne at the other end is hilly. The path along Øle Å on stage 6 is narrow, sloping and swampy in wet weather; in winter Naturstyrelsen suggests the forest roads. Read 13 October 2026.
Naturstyrelsen: HøjlyngsstienOlsker, at the end of stage 1, has no place to sleep. Naturstyrelsen's primitive sites in Rø Plantage and where stage 6 leaves Paradisbakkerne are on its stage maps but not mapped one by one, so we cannot show them; the plans use the shelter sites that are mapped. Shelters are free, first come first served, for one night. Read 13 October 2026.
Destination Bornholm: wild campingThere are no shops between Sandvig or Allinge and Aarsdale. In Ekkodalen, on stage 4, the Krølle-Bølle kiosk opens from 1 April to 1 October and in the autumn holiday (12 to 18 October in 2026), and Restaurant Ekkodalshuset is open all year. Read 13 October 2026.
Destination Bornholm: HøjlyngsstienNaturstyrelsen and Destination Bornholm published no closure or diversion on 13 October 2026. The trail is marked in both directions. BAT posts bus disruptions on its traffic page.
BAT: traffic informationGetting there
Travel around Sandvig to Olsker.
Google Maps journey searches, not confirmed services. A mountain endpoint may need a booked transfer or an additional walk.
Bornholmslinjen sails to Rønne. From there BAT buses run to Sandvig: get off at Sandvig Gl. Station, about 700 m from the start on the beach, Naturstyrelsen says.
BAT: routes and timetablesBuses cross the trail at Olsker, at the end of stage 1 (the stop near Rønnevej 56), so stage 1 makes a day walk. From stage 2 on the trail runs through forest and heath far from the bus routes.
Naturstyrelsen: buses to and from the trailThe trail ends at Høkeren by the harbour in Aarsdale; the Aarsdale bus stop (Strandvejen 4) is about 200 m away.
BAT: routes and timetablesTake your trip with you
Prepare every stage while you still have a connection, and test it offline before you set out.
Keep your route and maps on your phone for places without a signal. For multi-day trips, prepare them in the installed TrailSplits app.
Saving a bookmark is not a map download. Storage can be cleared by your device; keep a backup map for remote trips.
Route & sources
Højlyngsstien crosses Bornholm, the Danish island in the Baltic, from Sandvig in the north-west to Aarsdale on the east coast. Naturstyrelsen (the Danish Nature Agency, which owns most of the forest it crosses) divides it into seven stages of about 11, 9, 12, 11, 9, 11 and 4 km, 67 km in all, and publishes no stage times: it says a stage of 9 to 12 km takes 2 to 4 hours. The line here is the route on OpenStreetMap (superroute 12540655 and its nine sections, from the planet of 11 October 2026): 67.2 km, the whole trail, cut at the seven stage ends, each within about 1.2 km of Naturstyrelsen's figure. The stage ends are named places, not points, and the published distances are approximate: we end stage 2 by the Nordhus shelter site in Rø Plantage and stage 5 at Ølene, where the trail passes nearest the Pedersker Jagthus shelter, as our best fit. No closure or diversion was published on 13 October 2026. Our climb is measured on terrain heights, so short steep steps are smoothed out.
Official guidance and mapped-source comparison checked 13 October 2026. Map data is a route reference, not confirmation of today's path, weather or accommodation availability.
Naturstyrelsen: HøjlyngsstienMap data © OpenStreetMap contributors · Source relation