Samsø Nordby Bakker Trail – Hiking Denmark

Reaching the starting point

You can reach Samsø by ferry from three different places – Kalundborg on Zealand and Aarhus and Hou on the mainland (Jutland). You can bring a car, but it is of course more expensive. You always need to book ahead of departure. Now, if you do bring a car you can of course drive up to the starting point at Ballebjerg Fyr (parking free of charge) from the Sælvig harbour by following the main road Havvejen up north for 13 kilometres till you reach the village called Nordby. At the beginning of the village you should take the road called Vestre Ringvej on your left and follow it till you reach a T-cross where you go to the left onto Ballebjergvejen and follow it for about 2 kilometres till you reach the parking lot at Ballebjerg Fyr. We would, however, strongly recommend you to not bring a car to Samsø as the lack of traffic is exactly part of the island’s charm.

We ourselves chose to drive to Hou, parked our car (free of charge) and went on the ferry on foot. You can also reach your harbour of choice by public transport – check and plan your route on Rejseplanen.dk (also in English). Once you reach the Sælvig harbour on Samsø, there is about 17 kilometres up to the starting point (23 kilometres if you arrive at Ballen harbour from Zealand). You have different options for going by public transport depending on the time of your arrival. There is only a regular bus service during the school summer holiday (weeks 26-31) where the island is brimming with tourists, and the rest of the year there is a ‘school bus’ which is free of charge for all to use in the morning and afternoon during workdays. If you, like us, go hiking during a weekend you should instead use the island’s telebus system, which works much like a shuttle bus but is very affordable as it drives you from one address on the island to another for only 30 DKK/4EUR per person (15 DKK per child). The only downside is that you must call and order it at least 2 hours in advance (45 minutes if you are coming by ferry), and of course wait for it to take on and drop off other passengers on the way.

We were, however, very satisfied with the concept as we made it to the starting point by bus in about 30 minutes compared to the 20 minutes it would take by car.

Trail

The trail starts at the lower parking lot at Ballebjerg Fyr, where we got dropped off by the telebus (it doesn’t drive on dirtroads). From here, we followed the small paved road leading up to the picturesque lighthouse from 1920 with a magnificent view on the sea and Tunø (where we also hiked in fall – stay tuned). After taking some photos, we followed the foot path north of the lighthouse marked with bright green triangles. The path quickly bends towards east, and then ends at narrow dirt road which you should follow towards north with the forest on your right for about 100 metres, until it divides into two. At the road fork, you should choose the right one, meandering northeast, but there should be a bright green triangle showing you the way. After 250 meters the dirt road will narrow into a footpath, and you will enter a small forest.

Here the footpath divides into two, and you should choose the left one leading immediately out of the woods, not the right one which is descending down (see image). When you come out in the open, you should enter through the small gate (marked with a green triangle) into the livestock pasture in front of you. Then, you follow the markers with green triangles on the path northeast through a landscape with rolling hills and an amazing view on the sea. After walking 1.5 kilometres altogether, the path descends rapidly down a hill towards a narrow paved road, where you will also exit through the livestock gate. On the other side you will find some picnic tables, if you want to make a quick stop. From here you walk north for 200 meters on the paved road called Langdalen, and then turn right onto the narrow dirt road called Lystoftevej. You quickly come to a crossroad, and here you should go to the left, once again heading north. After 500 metres you come to a road fork and you should continue straight, going north.

When you have walked 3 kilometres altogether, a narrow footpath (marked with a green triangle) will appear on your left and you should follow it, as it runs northeast towards the northern tip of Samsø, called Issehoved (meaning something like “bald head” due to its sparse trees). Once you reach the outer skirts of this area, you have different options for how you want to explore the top of the island. We chose to follow the path towards east and first head north towards the tip once close to the eastern shore, but there were many other lovely-looking paths to approach the top, so do explore! We made a stop on one of the hilltops near the tip, called Pelkeshøj, after having walked for 5.5 kilometres altogether. We then made our way down from the Issehoved plateau close to the eastern shore and decided to continue down south on a wide path running on a beach meadow. The wide path eventually narrows in and ends after a kilometre, so we walked onwards on the beach itself.

After walking another kilometre on the beach, we took the steep path up to the Klitgaard Camping place in the hopes of finding ice cream. As we made our way up to the camp reception walking west, we met the owner who told us it was the last day of the season and that the reception was already shut down. We then called the telebus office (three hours before our ferry departed from Sælvig), which asked us to proceed to the small belltower in Nordby to get picked up early as they otherwise wouldn’t be able to guarantee that we would get to the ferry in time with a later telebus. Thus we continued west till we reach the paved Issehoved road, and went south towards the Nordby village. After walking 10.5 kilometres altogether, we reached the belltower and bought an ice cream while we waited for the telebus to pick us up. We of course arrived early at the harbour, but there was both a cafe and a small beach where we could hang out.

Patagonia Capilene Midweight Zip-Neck

The Patagonia Capilene Midweight Zip-Neck base layer was perfect for this hike. The base layer is made of a brushed polyester fabric and is thus very warm. I didn’t wear any extra layers over it, and it kept me at a pleasant temperature throughout the hike, although it was relatively chilly that day. The base layer is also quick drying, breathable and moisture-wicking.  It’s treated with HeiQ Fresh odor control and is thus very odor-resistant.

I was very satisfied with the Danner Trail 2650 GTX shoes because they are lightweight, breathable and provide very good traction. Since they have Gore-Tex lining, they also kept my feet dry even while walking on grass wet from morning dew.  The only thing that bothers me about these shoes is that the PlyoGo midsole is a bit too soft. When I hike lightweight that’s not a problem, but when I’m carrying my daughter in the Poco pack the shoes do become a bit too bouncy. You can read the full review of the Danner Trail 2650 GTX shoes here.