Gudenå Park - Wheelchair Accessible

Experience plenty of birdlife and enjoy Kongslund Lake from some of the viewing platforms.

Note: During periods of prolonged or heavy rainfall, the paths in Gudenåpark may be damaged or flooded.

The route starts at Randers Nature Center, where there are parking spaces with accessible parking. Restrooms including an accessible restroom are available during the Nature Center's opening hours.

Beautiful walk on paths surfaced with crushed stone. For wheelchair users, the route will return the same way to the start, as the paths south of the allotments are not suitable for wheelchairs.

Along the route and south of Randers Nature Center, you will pass a bird tower down to the Gudenå River. Here, there is a ramp that can be used by wheelchair users. Later, you will come across two fishing bridges that extend all the way into the Gudenå River. There is also a ramp for wheelchair users here.

An old river delta

Gudenåpark was originally part of the Gudenå River delta, which previously filled the entire Gudenå Valley with side streams, canals, and wet areas.

Part of Gudenåpark consists of alder swamp. The black alder is the only Danish tree that can grow in places where there is standing water all year round. The alder can tolerate a water level of up to a meter. The alder tree can absorb nitrogen from the air and bind it in the soil with the help of bacteria that live on its root nodules.

Until the early 1900s, the areas in Gudenåpark were grazed and mowed by local farmers.

That a large part of the area has since overgrown with willow trees is due to the fact that in the 1930s, band willow was planted as part of an employment project. Willow twigs were imported from the Mediterranean area to make wattles as support for the paths and roads that were established in the area.

Since willow is incredibly eager to shoot when there is water present, the twigs took root and in many places created a dense willow thicket.

The name band willow comes from the practice of peeling willow bark into long strips - among other things, to be used as hooping for butter barrels. Moreover, salicin can be extracted from the bark, which was previously used for headache powder. Even the catkins of the willow were used. In the spring, they were mixed into the stallions' oats if there was a need to dampen their spring feelings.