Urskoven | The old-growth forest
The old-growth forest in Rold Forest is about the same age as the Troll forest. It consists of old beeches, with the oldest trees being around 300 years old.
If you want to visit the old-growth forest, you can park by the parking lot Pumpevejen, approximately 1 km from the forest. You can find the old-growth forest (18) on the Rebild Bakker map.
Unlike Troldeskoven, you will not find many multi-stemmed beeches in the old-growth forest. The reason may lie in who owned the original property. The troll forest was a communal forest for farmers in Rebild and thus was pollarded, grazed and exploited to the utmost. The old-growth forest belonged to the manor 'Kyø', southwest of Sebbersund, and therefore it was not exploited as much. Today the forest belongs to the Department of the Environment and is part of The Danish Nature Agency.
The old-growth forest is designated as untouched forest. In untouched forests, no trees are felled or replanted. If a tree dies or falls, it is left to lie. In the glades left by a fallen tree, new trees grow, ensuring a forest with different species of trees in many sizes and ages. The age of the forest and the fact that it is left untouched, is what makes it an old-growth forest. The name was given to the forest by the renowned forester Jens Hvass, who wanted an "old-growth forest" for a scouting exercise.