Helnæs Made is a nature reserve in the middle of Helnæs. The hiking trail is about 3 kilometers long and goes through a relatively untouched natural area. There are no farms and houses here. Neither masts nor wind turbines spoil the view here. A walk along the path offers the opportunity to study the rich flora and fauna. Lapwings, oystercatchers and bekkassins breed at Maden. Sand toads and green frogs also breed in the water holes at Maden.
Until the mid-18th century, people sailed to Helnæs By via Maden, which was a bay at the time. The small islands in the bay were used for grazing cattle, and the bay was good for fishing for eels. But in 1783, the then owner of Hagenskov, Niels Ryberg, decided to extract Helnæs Made for cultivation. When the embankment was completed, the local farmers decided to take the best soil for themselves, and the worst sandy soil was allocated to the small farmers of Helnæs. Today you can see traces of this when you walk the trail. In the northwest corner of the trail you can see an unusual system of small fields on either side of a cow lane. The fields are surrounded by dikes. These fields were allocated to the small farmers.
Source: Naturstyrelsen