Utrecht Path

Leg 5 & 6
SP13 Veenendaal to Scherpenzeel

February 2025

Veenendaal to Scherpenzeel, History and Hiking

We put on our hiking shoes again to walk a new leg of the Utrechtpad, this time the last part of stage 5 and the start of stage 6, from Veenendaal to Scherpenzeel. The Utrechtpad runs through the Gelderse valley, an agricultural area between the Heuvelrug and the Veluwe. The Utrechtpad runs through the Gelderse Valley, an agricultural area between the Heuvelrug and the Veluwe. Indeed, we could smell the strong livestock odor coming from large factory farms.

Although nature here is less impressive, the area’s history is. In the 18th century, the Grebbelinie was built here to make it difficult for the enemy to advance further by being able to flood the land. This 60 km long water defense work ran from Rhenen along the Valleikanaal and the Eem straight through the Gelderse Vallei to the Zuiderzee, now the Eemmeer. At the start of World War 2, heavy fighting took place here, in vain, to stop the advancing Germans.

At Renswoude, we walked around the park and around Kasteel Renswoude. The family’s descendants have owned the castle since 1754; the forest is owned by the Utrechts Landschap. Today, the castle has been divided into several apartments rented out to maintain and preserve the historic building.

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In Scherpenzeel, we left the Utrechtpath at Huis Scherpenzeel and walked a few hundred meters to the bus stop near the church in the center.

At last, after a 4.5-hour journey, we found a sunny place to sit and enjoyed our coffee and treats while warming up. We were relieved our return trip was smooth; the bus to Veenendaal-De Klomp train station, the intercity to Utrecht, and the final bus home ran on time, so we were home in just 1.5 hours.

Date

Thursday, February 13, 2025

Distance

13.19 miles
21.23 km

Moving Time

4:21:08 hrs

Weather

-2 °C, clouds,
gentle breeze