8

8. Randbøldal og Randbøl Hede

Here you can get a map that is more suitable for print:

	The Hærvej bicycle route, asphalt/gravel		Youth hostel
	The Hærvej hiking route		Tourist information
	Second bicycle route		Hostel
	Sight		Shop
	Primitive tent place		Area with a hiking folder
	Camping site

The Hærvej bicycle route goes through the forest area by Gødding Skov, Randbøldal and Frederikshåb Plantage before it passes east of the big heath areas in Randbøl Hede. The hiking route continues from Vejle Ådal to Egtved Ådal that digs itself deep down into a varied hilly landscape of forests and heaths.

Kong Rans Høj lies just next to Randbøl Church.
Bindeballe Købmandsgård
The Rygbjerg stone stands in its original place near Randbøl Hede.

1. Firhøje and Kong Rans Høj

A little to the north of Randbøl Kirke the Hærvej bicycle route passes Firhøje there are 4 Bronze Age hills situated on a heath. From the huckleberry-covered top of the hills there is a nice view of several other hills. By Randbøl Church lies King Ran`s hill on the cemetery. According to the legend King Ran fell in a battle in Kongeådalen by Gødding Skov.

2. Bindeballe Station and Bindeballe Købmandsgård

On a part of the stretch through Vejle Ådal the Hærvej hiking route follows the old Vandel railway that was closed in 1957. At Bindeballe Station there is a small exhibition about the railway. Here there is also a kitchen, a bath and a toilet for hikers and cyclists, and there is a small tent place. The key can be collected at the grocery that lies opposite.

Bindeballe Købmandsgård is a living museum where you can see how it looked at the grocer’s in former times, while you can buy fresh supplies for the trip.

3. The Big Rygbjerg stone and Randbøl Hede

East of Randbøl Hede the bicycle route passes a preserved place with the Big Rygbjerg stone which is a runic stone with the inscription "Bryden Tue rejste denne sten over Thorgunn sin lege. Disse stave vil leve længe". On present-day Danish it means that Tue set up the stone over his wife’s grave. The stone was once cleaved, but it stands again in its original place.

The Rygbjerg stone stands just by the main stop line of the last Ice Age, with the hilly landscape by Randbøldal to the east and the flat heath plain to the west across Randbøl Hede. On Randbøl Hede one can imagine how the area looked like before cultivation and forest planting. In the folder Randbøl Hede og Frederikshåb Plantage (The Forest and Nature agency) hikes in the area are described.

4. The Egtved girl’s Grave

A few kilometres east of the Hærvej hiking route lies Egtved Storhøj where a young girl was entombed in an oak coffin about 3370 years ago. In 1921 a well-preserved coffin with the remains of a girl who had a light blonde hair and was dressed in a short skirt from brown sheep wool was found. By the hill there is an information house with a replica of the dress.

Links to trip folders:

Randbøl Hede og Frederikshåb Plantage (The Forest and Nature agency) . Hikes on Randbøl Hede and in Frederikshåb Plantage.

Tørskind - Vejle og Egtved Ådale (PDF 0,8 b).

Vandreruten Vejle-Bække cykelruten Bindeballestien i Vejle Ådal (PDF 1,6 Mb). Folder about the coast to coast route that goes from Vejle to Blåvand. This folder describes the route from Vejle to Bække.