Project: “Gudenåstien—From Source to Fjord”

A 175-kilometer trail along Denmark's longest river

The project "Gudenåstien—From Source to Fjord” was a three-year project that established a continuous and uniformly marked hiking trail with support facilities all the way from the Gudenå River’s source in Tinnet Krat to its mouth at Randers Fjord. The trail, which was inaugurated in March 2026, is 175 kilometers long and runs through 8 municipalities and 3 units of the Danish Nature Agency. The project aimed to

close the gaps
improve sections
signs uniformly
share POIs
establish support facilities

The project had a budget of 57 million and was supported by the Nordea Foundation and the A.P. Møller Foundation (15 million Danish kroner each) as well as the 11 project partners. Favrskov Municipality served as the lead partner.

The project began in December 2022 and was completed in May 2026.

Stiprojektet er støttet af A.P. Møller og Hustru Chastine Mc-Kinney Møllers Fond til almene Formaal og Nordea-fonden – samt de 11 projektparter: Vejle Kommune, Hedensted Kommune, Horsens Kommune, Skanderborg Kommune, Silkeborg Kommune, Favrskov Kommune, Viborg Kommune og Randers Kommune samt Naturstyrelsen Trekantsområdet, Naturstyrelsen Søhøjlandet og Naturstyrelsen Kronjylland.

The Route of the Gudenå Trail

The Gudenåstien consists of existing hiking trails—primarily the Trækstien between Silkeborg and Randers and the Himmelbjergruten between Ry and Silkeborg. In addition, at the start of the project, there was a section between the Voervads Bridge and the Emborg Bridge that had already been named the Gudenåstien. The trail between the source and Uldum Kær has been connected within the project to form a single continuous route. North of Uldum Kær and up to Vestbirk, there was no trail—it was established as part of the project. You can now walk along the Gudenåstien from the source to the fjord. The Trækstien and the Himmelbjergruten will continue to be named as such, but are now also considered part of the Gudenåstien.