Davinde Gravel Pit – Tarup-Davinde. 12 km.
The area with the many lakes in Tarup-Davinde ...is worth a visit. Gravel has been extracted from the area for more than 100 years, transforming the landscape from flat terrain into one featuring hills and more than 70 lakes.
We set the GPS for Rolighedsvej/Hudevad Byvej in Årslev and parked in the lot 100 meters down Hudevad Byvej. The parking area features nice restrooms as well as a picnic table where you can enjoy a packed lunch—or a champagne brunch, which is something we’ve done on a previous visit. We began the walk by passing "Nautilen," a collection of the various types of stone found in the gravel pits over the years. From there, we kept left, walking around the small "Aborre-søen" (Perch Lake).
The route leads back along the gravel road towards the Åløkkestedet Nature School, where we could have cut across the meadow. Since we had a dog with us, however, we chose to walk along the country road instead; the meadow is home to grazing cows, and our past experiences with dogs and cows have not been very positive. We continued along Hudevad Byvej until we reached Møllevej, which we followed down to Smedbakken. Just after Smedbakken makes a bend, we can rejoin the trail network surrounding the gravel pits.
We walked past Lille Ibjerg Lake and around Store Ibjerg Lake, then returned along the other side of Lille Ibjerg Lake, where we sat down to eat the food we had brought with us. We continued around Birkum Lake and Langager Lake before passing under Ørbækvej through an underpass.
Here, we took a walk around Davinde Lake, making sure to head up to the tour's highest point, Røllehøj—a 66-meter-high mound created from more than 50,000 truckloads of soil from across Funen. The view is fantastic and makes for the perfect coffee break spot.
From there, the trip heads back to the car and a break at the picnic table by the lake.
The route was just over 12 km long, but it can be varied significantly depending on your mood and whether you feel like walking around the large lakes or winding your way among the small ones.
Click on the map below and it will open in Google Maps. From here, you can follow the route as you are hiking.
