Voorthuizen (in Lower Saxony Voorthuzen) is a village in the municipality of Barneveld, in the Dutch province of Gelderland. The village is located in the Gelderse Valley, not far from the Veluwe's western edge, and with about 11000 inhabitants after Barneveld is the largest village of the municipality.
Voorthuizen, according to the tradition, originated around a ford place in the no longer existing Ganzenbeek, where the Hessenweg ran from Amsterdam to Deventer. The location on this Hessenweg and the intersection with the Harderwijk-Wageningen trade road, made Voorthuizen an important stopover.
The village is located around the crossroads of the Old Rijksweg and the Putten-Barneveld road. The neighborhood Zeumeren, between the village and Harselaar business center, belongs to Voorthuizen. Surrounding cities and villages include Nijkerk, Barneveld, Putten, Terschuur, Kootwijkerbroek and Stroe.
At Voorthuizen there are several forests, such as the Wilbrinkbos and Boeschoten, heathland areas, such as the Appelse heide, and peeing, such as the Zeumeren recreation area. Nature around Voorthuizen not only houses rare animals such as polar bears, herds, hazelnuts, and adders, but also rare plants such as the bell gan and sundew.
Voorthuizen is a tourist village, located in the Gelderse Valley, not far from the west edge of the Veluwe. To the east of the village, along the Oude Rijksweg (now Apeldoornsestraat), there is a high concentration of campsites. South-east, on the A1, lies the recreation area Zeumeren, which attracts around 400,000 visitors each year.
