75 % of the forest is privately owned, primarily by 3 properties: Lindenborg, Nørlund and Willestrup. The state owns 25 %, and this area is being administrated by "Skov- og Naturstyrelsen Himmerland.”

1826 the forest mainly consisted of more or less open beech forest and brushwood, stretched moors and heath. From 1850 they began planting conifers.

Apart from Norway spruce and Scots pine several North American trees were planted such as
Douglas-fir, Sitka spruce, noble and giant fir, even if the forester Hintz by his boss was forbidden to plant this kind of “park trees”

The North American trees mentioned have since been particularly important species in the forest. In two places “Jætternes Baghave” and “Forstrådens Gran” are impressive old Douglas-fir and Sitka spruce. 

Today Rold Forest is primarily a coniferous forest. The moraine soil with its sand and gravel together with a lot of rainfall cause that the conifers here have one of the very best habitats in the country.

The forest is well known because of its large, dense growth of old fir, even if the storm in 1981 thinned the forest badly. In this November gale 550.000 cubic metres of wood were brought down in Rold Forest (this is about half of the yearly felling of conifers in Denmark).

However, fine parts of the old beech forest are preserved. The largest growths of natural forest with beeches are found in the Rebild Hills, Bjergeskov, Troldeskoven and Urskoven.

Especially in Rebild Hills and in Troldeskoven the trees have got more trunks.

The shape is due to a combination of frequent falling, dry-rot, gnawing from game and cattle as well as frost and wind.
Troldeskoven and Urskoven are laid out as untouched forest. Here it is not allowed to carry out any falling or other cultural interventions. Eventually, these areas will look like virgin forest with fallen trees and new plants in the glades. Other natural forests are run with a special extensive forestry, for instance in Rebild hills where sheep and cattle graze in the forest.

The forest is rich in memorials of the past. Especially in”Bjergeskoven” are many burial mounds from the Late Stone Age and the Bronze Age. We can mention the dolmen Stenstuen and the two burial mounds Svinehøjene. 
 
There are several old sunken roads in the forest – often beside each other. They have been in use one by one. If one stretch of road was too bad and impassable, you just made a new track.
The most well-known sunken road is Rebildvej which is now asphalted and leads through Rebild Hills. Along the road Pumpevejen near Troldeskoven there is a fine example on how more sunken roads are parallel.

”Den Narre Kjeld” means the Northern spring or well, and it is said that this well is 600-700 years old. Now the well is sometimes dried out, but as late as about 1900 it was still used by the inhabitants of the house Sdr. Lejehus near the forest garden. 

Everywhere in the forest there are traces of an extensive production of charcoal, for instance by “Kulsvierpladsen” – a place where the charcoal burners worked – in Rebild Hills.

2 different sorts of charcoal burning have been going on. Either the controlled carbonization was made in closed mines in the ground, or the wood was stabled up to charcoal stacks as tall as a man, after which everything was covered with turf. The charcoal burners ensured a proper burning of the wood by removing or placing turves on the charcoal stacks.

If the fire was too violent, the charcoal burners had a big barrel of water by the charcoal stack to put out the flames. Even at night charcoal was burned, and the burners had long and cold night watches. The extensive charcoal burning in Rold Forest demanded large quantities of wood and contributed to serious changes in the forest. Today is still in the area a charcoal burner who has carried on the tradition.

The lime-rich soil in Rold Forest is the explanation of the so called “erosion holes”. When the rain-water penetrates the fallen leaves, it is acidified by humid acids. The acid water penetrates the cracks in the soil and dissolves the lime. When the lime is dissolved, cavities are formed which one day suddenly can collapse.

One of the large conical erosion holes is called “Hestegraven” (the horse’s grave). The name is due to a tale about a horse team which went through the forest. Suddenly the soil disappeared under the horses, the horse team vanished of the face of the earth and the Horse’s Grave was formed.

Another well-known erosion hole is Røverstuen (the Robbers Cave). It is told that the robbers from Rold had their hide-out in this erosion hole. Here they were able to lie in wait for the travellers, and they had stretched a rope with bells attached to it across the road. When the rope was hit by a horse or cart the bells rang. The pedestrians were, if they looked where they were going, able to climb over or under the rope.

On a slope in a part of the forest called Bjergskoven is the only habitat for the largest orchid in Denmark – Frueskoen (Lady’s Slipper). It was discovered in 1880 but was nearly wiped out through by thoughtless people looking for plants, a fate which also strikes more of our species of orchids.
It became necessary to fence in a large area to prevent theft of the orchids. However there is a “cage” in the enclosure from which you are able to see this rare plant.

During a period of years the number of Lady’s Slipper was decreasing, consequently some preservative measures were made, some of the many beeches in the area were cut down to bring more light in the enclosure and every year when the Lady’s slipper has ceased flowering, sheep are set loose in the enclosure to keep the rest of the vegetation at a minimum.
These measures seem to have worked very well as the number of Lady’s Slipper increase every year.

The Lady’s Slipper flowers in the beginning of June.

Animal life in the forest is varied and rich in species. The large animals in the forest such as red deer, roe deer, badger and fox are to be seen, if you come at the correct time of the year and move silently around in the forest.

Early mornings or in the twilight are the best moments to experience the animals, as they come out in the glades in the forest. Remember that the animal’s sense of hearing and smell are remarkably better than ours; therefore avoid as well unnecessary sounds as standing in the windward side.

There are far more birds than mammals, but often they are difficult to see. In stead you can listen to their song, and it is in fact also the best way of recognizing them. However, some of the birds in the forest are so big that they easily can be spotted. Birds of prey such as common buzzard and goshawk are often seen in the forest.

Many birds have feathers in brown and grey colours. They match the colours in the forest and therefore they do not so easily end up as prey. However here are also quite colourful species such as the Eurasian Jay with its red breast and light blue wings or the green woodpecker which is shining in a yellowish green colour and has a red head.

The animal life in the forest can be experienced all year round, each season with its own specialities. This can be the winter’s large flocks of finches or in the spring you can watch our smallest deer, the roe deer.

In an early summer morning you can be lucky experiencing fox cubs playing outside the fox’s den. In the autumn on the large lakes in the forest there can be large flocks of tufted ducks and common golden eye, especially after stormy weather. You just have to keep your eyes and ears open.