City bailiff's forest

Beautiful forest, close to Skagen's pedestrian street and harbor, which offers ample opportunity for pleasant walks or hikes.

The Byfogedskoven forest, which over the years has become completely enclosed by the city, was started around 1815 by the city bailiff, chancellor Ole Chr. Lund and his servant Jan Leton, as one of the first successful attempts at tree planting in the Jutland dunes.

Spruce, pine, ash, poplar, willow and alder were planted.

Already in the middle of the last century, the plantation was growing so well that poets such as HC Andersen and St. St. Blicher marveled at the great lushness in the middle of the sand mountains.

In the 1870s, Austrian pine was planted, which, together with a few Scots pines, are now the oldest trees in the plantation. In the 1880s, beech was planted, which stands surprisingly well just north of the Byfogedgården.

In the mid-19th century, there was a noticeable deterioration in the growth conditions in the plantation due to the lowering of the groundwater level, which was a consequence of urban development near the plantation.

After the dry summers of 1975 and 1976, it became clear that only irrigation could maintain the forest as a lush oasis in the dune sand. Irrigation began in 1979 and is still ongoing.

The property was protected in 1921. Today the forest is 10 hectares.

Leaflet about the Byfogedskoven and Krøyer's House.

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