Cycling is the ideal way to explore the park, especially since you can make free use of our famous White Bicycles. Alternatively, you can bring your own bicycle.
If you'd like to discover the park by bicycle, you can enjoy over 40 kilometres of designated paths. On your way you will encounter all of the landscapes the park has to offer: from deciduous, coniferous, and mixed forests to wet and dry heaths, and shifting sand.
White Bicycles
The White Bike forms an intrinsic part of De Hoge Veluwe Park. As a visitor you can use these White Bikes free of charge to move freely throughout the Park.
The Park has a total of 1,800 White Bikes, distributed among the bicycle storage facilities at the Marchantplein, the Kröller-Müller Museum, Jachthuis Sint Hubertus and the various entrances (Hoenderloo, Otterlo and Schaarsbergen). When you enter the Park, you can saddle up straight away! White Children's Bikes (without side wheels) and bicycles with front or rear child seats are also available. That means that even children can use the free White Bikes!
You are of course also free to explore De Hoge Veluwe National Park on your own bicycle. This does not cost you anything extra, all you have to pay is the admission ticket for the Park.
White Bikes are there for everyone
White Bikes cannot be booked and you are not permitted to lock them. The rotation system works in such a way that, as soon as a White Bike is put in the storage facility, any other visitor can use it. For a guaranteed bicycle throughout your visit, you can also hire a Blue Bike from the Bicycle Workshop next to the Visitor Centre.
What if I cannot find a White Bike?
On busy days it can happen that all White Bikes are in use. Do you want to be sure that you have a bicycle in advance? Maybe is a blue rental bike with a lock something for you. Or you can rent an electric bicycle. And of course you can also visit the Park with your own bicycle.
Origins
The idea of the available-to-all White Bike comes from Luud Schimmelpennink. In the late sixties, as exponent of the Provo period, he came up with the idea of leaving 2,000 bicycles in Amsterdam that could be used by everyone. The plan however, never materialised.
In 1974, De Hoge Veluwe National Park and the ANWB adopted the White Bike plan. The idea was to make the bicycles freely available to the Park's visitors. That year, they purchased 50 bikes.
From day one, the formula proved extremely successful, and it was quickly decided to extend the project. Now, 40 years on, the Park has 1,800 White Bikes.
Design
The current design was developed under a joint venture between Park staff and former professional cyclist Jack van der Slikke. It is the ideal recreational bicycle, without any unnecessary accessories: it is a simple design, it has no lights, no bell and no gears. The saddle and handlebars are height-adjustable. They are easy to mount and the gear ratio guarantees a comfortable and quiet ride.
Special bicycles
The park wants to offer everyone the opportunity to enjoy nature, including disabled people. Therefore we have made several custom bicycles available free of charge. These include a wheelchair bicycle and tricycles for children and adults. We also offer custom bicycles for use with your own wheelchair.