Skjern Å Nature Reserve

The Skjern Å Nature Reserve in West Jutland is the largest nature-restoration project ever undertaken in Denmark, and one of the most ambitious in northern Europe. In the 1960s the Skjern River — the country's most water-rich river — was straightened and its broad valley drained and ploughed for farmland, in a scheme that was celebrated at the time as a triumph of engineering. Within a generation the costs became clear: shrinking wildlife, sinking soils and a polluted Ringkøbing Fjord. Between 1999 and 2003 the state reversed the work, letting the river wind again across some two thousand hectares and recreating Denmark's only true river delta where the Skjern meets the fjord.

The result is a landscape that feels both ancient and astonishingly new. The river now loops in great meanders through wet meadows, reedbeds and shallow lakes, and nature has rushed back in. This is one of the finest birdwatching areas in the country: waders and ducks throng the marshes, geese and swans gather in huge numbers on migration, and marsh harriers quarter the reeds while otters have returned to the waterways. In autumn, spectacular murmurations of starlings — the phenomenon Danes call ‘sort sol’, black sun — can wheel over the wetlands at dusk.

For visitors the reserve is generously equipped and entirely free. A network of walking and cycling trails, car parks, viewpoints and bird hides threads the valley, so you can dip in for a short stroll or spend half a day exploring. Raised viewpoints such as the one at the old northern pumping station give sweeping panoramas over the delta, best of all at dawn when the light is low and the birds are active. Information boards along the way explain both the drainage history and the restoration, making the site a living lesson in how landscapes can be repaired.

The main paths and several of the hides are firm and fairly level, suitable for most visitors, though the wilder margins of the marsh are rougher and can be wet, so sturdy footwear is wise and binoculars are all but essential. Because this is open, natural countryside there are no fixed opening hours; it can be enjoyed year-round, but spring and autumn migration are the peak seasons for birdlife.

Allow at least a couple of hours, longer if you are a keen birdwatcher or want to walk a full loop. The reserve sits just west of Skjern town and is easily combined with the wider attractions of the west coast — Ringkøbing Fjord, the long North Sea beaches and the fishing town of Hvide Sande are all close by. For anyone interested in wild Denmark and in what large-scale ecological restoration can achieve, the reborn valley of the Skjern is a genuinely uplifting place to walk.