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A Highpointers guide to the Netherlands
The Netherlands is a small member state of the European Union, bordering Germany to the east, Belgium to the south, and has maritime borders in the North Sea with England in the west, Scotland in the northwest and Germany in the northeast.
The Netherlands is made up primarily of alluvial soils such as fluvial sands, clay and peat, and 60% of the Netherlands was formed in the Holocene. In the western provinces, many provincial highpoints are in fact maritime dunes, directly at the coast. 90 percent of the western Netherlands is in fact below sea level, mainly because of centuries of subsidence caused by heavy agricultural use of the peat soils. In these parts, only some remnants of ice-age moraines, as well as river and maritime dunes are often the only parts above sea level.
In the central and eastern parts, most of the hills are ice-age moraines, and in some parts they reach quite high as well, as high as 110 metres in Gelderland Province, north of Arnhem, and even 120 metres near Kleve, just east into Germany from Nijmegen. Because there is tectonic uplift around Nijmegen, and north of Arnhem, there is subsidence caused by isostatic rebound still present from Scandinavia which is still rising. In a geological short time, probably around 5.000 years, the Nijmegen hills (nowadays topping out around 100 metres) will likely be higher than the Arnhem hills.
Finally, the southernmost, and highest hills, are the hills in the deep south of Limburg. These are mainly made of Cretaceous limestone, and actually, the area between Maastricht and Vaals is pretty much the only part of the Netherlands where there is actual rock on the surface. Because these hills are in fact the foothills of the Ardennes-Eifel range, further south, they don't have much prominence. Geologically speaking, the south of Limburg is a peneplain which has seen volcanic-induced uplifting from the Miocene on, due to the active volcanism in the Eifel, immediately southeast from this region. Because of this, the hills here have very little prominence, usually with a steep face on one side, shallow slopes in the other sides and flatland on the side opposing the steep face. Prominence figures in Limburg of more than 50 metres are rare, while on the much lower hills around Nijmegen and Arnhem, prominence in the order of 50-80 metres is common, giving these hills a much more "hilly" appearance.
HP map of the NL.| Province | Highest natural point - Anthropogenic highpoints are excluded. | Summit elevation - All heights are above sea level. | Lat/Lon |
| Flevoland | Urk | 8 metres/26 ft | 52°39'N, 5°36'E |
| Groningen | Hasseberg | 14 metres/43 ft | 52°56'N, 7°10'E |
| Drenthe | Emmeresch | 28 metres/93 ft | 52°48'N, 6°53'E |
| Zuid-Holland | Vlaggeduin | 37 metres/121 ft | 52°12'N, 4°24'E |
| Noord-Brabant | Venakkerbos | 44 metres/145 ft | 51°16'N, 5°18'E |
| Fryslân | Vuurboetsduin | 45 metres/147 ft | 53°28'N, 5°04'E |
| Zeeland | Duin Groot-Valkenisse | 49 metres/162 ft | 51°29'N, 3°28'E |
| Noord-Holland | Schoorlse Nok | 57 metres/187 ft | 52°42'N, 4°40'E |
| Utrecht | Amerongse Berg | 69 metres/225 ft | 52°00'N, 5°30'E |
| Overijssel | Tankenberg | 85 metres/281 ft | 52°19'N, 6°57'E |
| Gelderland | Zijpenberg | 110 metres/361 ft | 52°02'N, 6°00'E |
| Limburg | Vaalserberg | 323 metres/1058 ft | 50°45'N, 6°02'E |
Glossary
- Anthropogenic highpoint Any highpoint which is not created by nature, but instead by man. Think of landfills, burial mounts, and other artificial hills. Very common type of highpoint in places like the Netherlands, Louisiana, Bangladesh and Florida.
- Duin Dutch Dune
- Berg Dutch Mountain
- Heuvel Dutch Hill
- Donk Dutch, Southern dialect Hill, usually of Fluvial origin
- Bos Dutch Forest, woodlands
- Nok Dutch Top