We spent two nights in Rebild. Staying for two nights worked particularly well here: Rebild is not a place that needs to be rushed, and much of its appeal comes from simply having time to walk through the hills and the enormous forest surrounding them.
Safari Camping is exceptionally well positioned, with Rebild Bakker and Rold Skov practically on its doorstep. The campsite itself felt peaceful and made a convenient base for the area, while the Wi-Fi worked perfectly throughout our stay. From here, walking and cycling routes lead directly into the surrounding countryside, so there is little need to move the motorhome once settled.
The most interesting part of Rebild is its rather unexpected connection with the United States. In 1910, a group of Danish-Americans led by Max Henius bought part of the heath-covered hills. Many of them belonged to the huge wave of Danish emigration to America during the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, when roughly 300,000 Danes left their homeland.
Their idea was to preserve a piece of the Denmark they remembered. In 1912 the land was presented to the Danish people, with the conditions that it should remain open to the public, retain its natural character and continue to host celebrations of Danish-American friendship.
That tradition survives today. Every 4 July, American Independence Day is celebrated in the natural amphitheatre known as Gryden in Rebild Bakker. It is an extraordinary combination: an American national celebration taking place among heather-covered Danish hills, more than 7,000 kilometres from the United States.
The landscape itself has an interesting trick to it. Rebild Bakker appears to consist of rolling hills, but geologically many of the apparent “hills” were created by deep erosion valleys cutting into a much higher plateau after the last Ice Age. Rold Skov begins almost immediately beside them and provides a completely different atmosphere, with springs, prehistoric burial mounds and the strangely twisted old beech trees known as Troldeskoven – the Troll Forest.
There is even some history attached to Safari Camping. Local tourism records show that it was already operating in 1958, when it was described as a newly established campsite behind the house known as “Safari”. It had initially been developed privately by J. C. Andreasen and had already received two stars. The local tourist association considered its location so good that plans for another campsite nearby were effectively abandoned.
That makes staying here rather appropriate: Safari Camping has been receiving visitors coming to see Rebild Bakker and Rold Skov for almost seventy years.
Our two nights gave us enough time to enjoy both sides of Rebild: the open, heather-covered landscape of the hills and the darker, quieter paths through Rold Skov. What at first looks like a small rural Danish settlement turns out to have an unusually rich combination of Ice Age geology, emigration history, Danish-American traditions and one of the country’s most atmospheric forests.