Sortevej og Sortehøj - gammelt vejstræk ved Kongeåen

South of the Kongeå you will find an old stretch of road that links to the history of the Ancient Road and the history of the Skodborghus customs office. 

On the Hærvej hiking stretch between the Hærvej hostel by the river Kongeåen and Haderslevvej, you walk on a toad-old sandy road. It is called Sortevej, and it was originally a main road and connected Kolding and Ribe via the former Skodborghus Castle, which is located by the river Kongeåen. Sortevej has crossed the Ancient Road here at Skodborghus and thus constituted a traffic hub. The road has been marked on old maps, and in many places traces of it have been lost. You know the stretch from the Freedom Bridge to Hermansen's Hill, i.e. approx. 3 km. Sortevej continues to the east and here meets an old ford over the Kongeå. It gets lost in the mists of the past, which is why the road has been named the Black Road.

Close to the road, Sortehøj is hidden in a small piece of forest - but still visible from the road. The round mound is 1.5 to 2 m high and approx. 19 m in circumference and with smaller hollows at the top. The sides have been overgrown for a number of years, so the mound is a little damaged.

The Ancient Road follows the watershed and the Jutland ridge, which was created by the previous ice age. Therefore, it has made sense that north-south traffic arose where there were the fewest wetlands to cross. The area around the present Vejen has been inhabited since the Early Bronze Age. The Ancient Road has crossed the Kongeå at Skodborghus and the heavy traffic has brought surplus and activity to the area. 

This stretch of Sortevej is also used by Kongeåstien, Camino Frøs Herred and The Black Clover Path from Vejen. The sand road is today also used as an access road to the fields.