Across the Baltic island of Bornholm, from Sandvig in the north-west to Aarsdale on the east coast, in Naturstyrelsen's seven stages: Hammershus, the heaths of Rutsker Højlyng, the forests of Rø Plantage and Almindingen, Ølene and Paradisbakkerne.
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
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Naturstyrelsen divides the trail into seven stages of about 4 to 12 km, 2 to 4 hours each. Two stage ends are not nights: Olsker has no place to sleep, and the primitive site where stage 6 leaves Paradisbakkerne is not mapped. So the plans sleep at Lyngholt Familiecamping on stage 1 instead of Olsker, and walk from Ølene to Aarsdale in one day. Every other night is at a free shelter or tent site in the forest: carry a tent or a sleeping bag and mat, and all your food. Choose a plan, or pick your own start, finish and nights below.
Changing where you stay suggests a new number of days: the fewest that keep each day under 8 h of walking and in daylight, where a place to stay allows.
Days end where the route has a stay, a camp or a village.
Stage 1, of which this day walks part: 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.
Overnight
Camping spot
Pick a date to check the season.
Not a stage end: a campsite about 800 m up Borrelyngvej, open all year.
Stage 1 continues from Day 1, where its notes are.
Stage 2: From Olsker by Ols Kirke, over Rutsker Højlyng and past Spellinge Mose to Rø Plantage: about 9 km, Naturstyrelsen says; 10.2 km on our line. The first 4 km are on small asphalt roads, then gravel. In Rø Plantage you may pitch a tent, and there is a shelter site and several primitive sites. Our stage ends by the Nordhus shelter site, the best fit for the published distance; the primitive sites are on Naturstyrelsen's stage 3 map but not mapped one by one, so we cannot show them.
Overnight
Camping spot
Pick a date to check the season.
Overnight
Camping spot
Pick a date to check the season.
Rø Plantage is a free-camping forest: you may pitch a tent, and there is a shelter site and several primitive sites, Naturstyrelsen says. The stage ends by the Nordhus shelter site, our best fit; the primitive sites are on Naturstyrelsen's stage 3 map but not mapped one by one, so we cannot show them.
Stage 3: On gravel roads and narrow paths by Borgen and Borgedalssøen to the north of Almindingen: about 12 km, Naturstyrelsen says; 10.9 km on our line. North Almindingen has free tenting, a shelter site and a primitive site.
Overnight
Camping spot
Pick a date to check the season.
In the north of Almindingen you may pitch a tent, and there is a shelter site and a primitive site, Naturstyrelsen says.
Stage 4: Through Almindingen by Rokkestenen, Lilleborg, Rytterknægten, Ekkodalen and Gamleborg to Hareløkkerne: about 11 km, with a few steep stretches. In Ekkodalen the Krølle-Bølle kiosk is seasonal and Restaurant Ekkodalshuset is open all year. The Udkæret shelter site (three shelters, a privy and a water post) is a few hundred metres off the trail. Hareløkkerne has a shelter site with two shelters and a restroom with water, and a primitive site: fill up, as it is about 20 km to the next water post.
Overnight
Camping spot
Pick a date to check the season.
A shelter site with two shelters and a restroom with water, and a primitive site. Fill up here: it is about 20 km to the next water post, Destination Bornholm says.
Stage 5: Past Bastemose and the bison forest into the Ølene reserve: about 9 km, with no water, shop or place to stay on the way; the shelter at Bastemose has no toilet or water. Our stage ends at Ølene, where the trail passes nearest Pedersker Jagthus, the best fit for the published distance. The night is at Pedersker Jagthus, a large shelter about 1 km from the trail, Naturstyrelsen says.
Overnight
Camping spot
Pick a date to check the season.
The Ølene reserve, with no water, shop or place to stay of its own. The night is at Pedersker Jagthus, a large shelter about 1 km from the trail, Naturstyrelsen says (about 600 m in a straight line from this point).
Stage 6: Along Øle Å, by Gamleborg and Aarsdale Ret, and over the hills of Paradisbakkerne: about 11 km, Naturstyrelsen says; 10.2 km on our line. The path along Øle Å is narrow, sloping and swampy in wet weather and very wet in winter; Naturstyrelsen suggests the forest roads then. There is a primitive site just where the trail leaves Paradisbakkerne, on Naturstyrelsen's stage 7 map; it is not mapped on its own, so we cannot show it, and the plans walk on to Aarsdale.
Stage 7: On small asphalt roads with views of the Baltic down to Aarsdale: about 4 km. The trail ends at Høkeren by the harbour, about 200 m from the bus stop. Kyststien, the coast path, goes on to Svaneke and Nexø.
Longest day: day 6, 3 h 43.
Days end at a stage end with a refuge or a village, or in a village the route passes through. Walking times are measured on each stage's mapped line by our route analysis (terrain heights and our hiking-time model, moving time only): no time is published for these stages.Outside Switzerland our walking times often run short of the times route operators publish; treat them as optimistic. Running times use 7.5 km/h plus one hour per 700 m of climb: a steady reference, not a prediction. Daylight is sunrise to sunset where the day starts; the time left is for breaks, meals and delays.Refuge dates come from the operator's own pages; when they are not published, we say so. For villages we count the places to stay OpenStreetMap lists; we have not checked which are open. A plan is not a booking: reserve every night before you commit to these day lengths.
Where each stage ends, the 2026 and 2027 seasons the operator publishes, and how to book. Read from the operators' pages on 13 October 2026; each stage page shows the sources and the grade profile.
| Stage | Night at | 2026 | 2027 | Booking |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Sandvig to Olsker | Olsker · no hut at this point | |||
| 2. Olsker to Rø Plantage | Rø Plantage | 1 January 2026 to 31 December 2026 | 1 January 2027 to 31 December 2027 | No booking |
| 3. Rø Plantage to Almindingen Nord | Almindingen Nord | 1 January 2026 to 31 December 2026 | 1 January 2027 to 31 December 2027 | No booking |
| 4. Almindingen Nord to Hareløkkerne | Hareløkkerne | 1 January 2026 to 31 December 2026 | 1 January 2027 to 31 December 2027 | No booking |
| 5. Hareløkkerne to Ølene | Pedersker Jagthus | 2026 dates not published | not published | Booking method not published |
| 6. Ølene to Paradisbakkerne | Paradisbakkerne · no hut at this point | |||
| 7. Paradisbakkerne to Aarsdale | Aarsdale · accommodation in town, not checked | Each host has its own season | Book with a host | |
Loading the forecast for low point (sea level) and high point (171 m)…
Typical weather on this trail: at the lowest point (sea level) and the highest point (171 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 |
| Stages rated good on typical weather | 0/7 | 0/7 | 0/7 | 7/7 | 7/7 | 7/7 | 7/7 | 7/7 | 7/7 | 7/7 | 0/7 | 0/7 |
| High point, day / night | 2°/-1° | 2°/-1° | 5°/0° | 9°/3° | 14°/7° | 18°/11° | 20°/14° | 21°/14° | 17°/11° | 12°/7° | 7°/4° | 4°/1° |
| Low point, day / night | 4°/1° | 4°/0° | 5°/1° | 9°/4° | 14°/8° | 18°/12° | 21°/15° | 21°/16° | 17°/13° | 13°/9° | 8°/5° | 6°/2° |
| Rain, mm | 47 | 39 | 36 | 28 | 39 | 52 | 63 | 66 | 64 | 64 | 59 | 59 |
| Snow at high point | Possible | Possible | Possible | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | Possible |
| Daylight | 7 h 42 | 9 h 38 | 11 h 44 | 14 h 03 | 16 h 07 | 17 h 23 | 16 h 54 | 15 h 05 | 12 h 50 | 10 h 36 | 8 h 27 | 7 h 11 |
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.
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.
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 informationClosures and notices last checked 13 October 2026: Destination Bornholm: Højlyngsstien · Naturstyrelsen: Højlyngsstien practical information · Naturstyrelsen: Højlyngsstien stages · udinaturen: Højlyngsstien · BAT: traffic information. Check them again before you set out.
Getting there
Choose a stage or journey above to narrow the travel searches.
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.
Naturstyrelsen gives about 67 km in seven stages of 4 to 12 km, and says a stage of 9 to 12 km takes 2 to 4 hours, in 7 sections on our map. The guide's day planner offers plans from 4 to 6 days on the overnight stops, and you can choose your own nights.
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.
Bornholmslinjen sails to Rønne. The "Connect your journey" section has the travel details, with 2 more travel notes.
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.
Yes: the whole route and every section, free, for a GPS watch or a phone. The guide also saves your plan for offline use in the app.
Closures we know of are shown on the days and sections they affect, in the day planner and on the stage pages. We watch 5 official notice pages (Destination Bornholm: Højlyngsstien; Naturstyrelsen: Højlyngsstien practical information; Naturstyrelsen: Højlyngsstien stages; udinaturen: Højlyngsstien; BAT: traffic information); the date we last read them is shown with the notices on this page. Check them again before you set off.
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
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