Thy National Park

Thy National Park (Danish: Nationalpark Thy) is a national park area in Thy, Denmark, opened to the public on 22 August 2008. It is located in Northwest Jutland, along the coast from Hanstholm to Agger Tange and it spans 55 km (34 mi) north to south and 5–12 km (3.1–7.5 mi) east to west. The total area of the national park is 244 km2 (94 square miles).

The dune and heath landscape of Thy was officially selected on 29 June 2007 to be the first national park in Denmark proper (Northeast Greenland National Park was established in 1974).

Nature

The landscape comprise windy coasts and dune systems, either bare, covered by heaths, meadows or plantations, with a great number of conifers. Low-nutrient wet hollows (a kind of bog) also occur, and between this varied coastal landscape, small ponds and lakes can be found. Remains from the Stone Age Littorina Sea are visible here, in the form of occasional limestone cliffs along the coast or further inland.

Drifting Sands

The drifting sands in Thy have plagued the locals for centuries, encroaching on their lands and buildings. But it was not until around the year 1800 that something was done about it and plantings of various grasses and trees was organized. Marram grass and various conifers was the main solution and the dune plantations are here today as living witnesses to the hard struggles against the forces of Nature. The plantations provided not only protection against the unrelenting sand, but also jobs, timber and firewood and with them a whole new fauna could establish in Thy, with red deer and roe deer as the largest animal.

Vegetation

Trees and grasses are not the only vegetation in the dunes though. The sandy dune heaths in Thy National Park are a rare habitat in a European context, and they are to be protected by law, so they have been a major contributory factor in establishing the national park. It is a continuous job trying to preserve them from invading flora. The larger animals are grazing excess vegetation, trees are sometimes uprooted and controlled burning is carried out occasionally, to give the sandy heath a chance. The heath vegetation might look simple to the untrained eye, but is in fact very varied, dominated by common heather, sand sedge, marram grass, the edible black crowberry, bell heather and various lichens. The sandy heaths of Thy attract many birds with some very rare breeders (in Denmark), such as crane and wood sandpiper and they form a habitat for a variety of smaller animals like the natterjack toad and many insects. The wet hollows in between support quite different plants such as bog bilberry, bayberry, marsh gentian, cranberry and a variety of sundew.

By car

Route 181 from the south and ferry from Thyborøn to Agger Tange. Route 11 from Oddesund to Thisted has several slip roads towards the west to Nationalpark Thy. Route 26/571 from island Mors towards the west to Stenbjerg.

By train

To Thisted and Hurup. From there various bus connections to the coastal villages.

By bus

To Thisted. Line 888 from Copenhagen and Aarhus to Thisted. X-bus from e.g. Aalborg, Vejle and Viborg. Local lines from Thisted to coastal villages and from Hurup to Agger.

By airplane

From Aalborg or Karup airport.

Denmark is a quite cold climate and most of the tourism happens during the summer where the weather is warm. However, there are plenty of other things to do during the other seasons. Winter is often cold and windy. Spring and fall are good options and with a bit of luck you will get a clear sky and comfortable temperatures.