The tiny national park of Skuleskogen is one of Sweden’s most well-known, and rightfully so. Matthias and I were amazed by the beauty of our surroundings during our entire stay in the park. The forest is amazingly rich. Green blueberry schrubberies seem to cover the entire forest floor, providing a fruit forest feast for any happy hiker walking by. On top of that, the landscape is simply and truly amazing. It resembles a combination of a complex of fjords and an archippel, where a very rich old forest meets the Baltic.
During the first day we realized that there were two things we miscalculated before embarking on the trip. The first thing was the distance from Docksta to Skuleskogen national park, which was longer than we anticipated. On our way to the park we walked along an asphalt road, which was slightly annoying because of surprisingly busy traffic and the strong sun that was out that day. Luckily the road partly runs by the sea and passes through tiny scenic villages, making up for the uncomfortable walk. On return we found our way to Höga Kusten Leden, providing a somewhat more comfortable trip to the bus.
The second thing was that we definitely overestimated the distances within the park. Skuleskogen covers only a very small surface and can easily be crossed in a day. We had four days at our disposal, leaving plenty of time to discover different corners of the park before we needed to headback to Docksta. We crossed from south to north, with overnight stays at Tärnättholmarna and right by the beaver colony close to the north entrance. Unfortunately no beavers were spotted, but we passed some impressive dams built by them on our way. Impressive rock formations stand out in the forest to demonstrate the force of the land lift that has been going on in the area. The lake Tärnättvattnen provided a good cool down and a perfect spot to sit through the hottest part of the day. Walking through Slåttsdalsskrevan in the evening sun after the packs of day tourists left was amazing.
The northern and western sides of the park are slightly more remote, and highly recommended to visit to anyone who has some more time. Especially the the western part feels very empty, but makes for a beautiful walk through one of the lesser tramped areas of the park.
In short, Skuleskogen was the ideal destination for our test hike: not too hard, with much variety in an enormously pretty environment. It was great to spend some days outside, refreshing in the creeks and having dinner by the campfire, to meet some other hikers on the road… Simply to have a wonderful time.
Oh, and on a final small note: August is probably a good time to be there if you don’t like mosquitos.
Lost in the Hills 