Skuleskogen National Park is situated in Sweden’s “High Coast” region, about halfway the East Coast, beside the Gulf of Bothnia in the Baltic Sea. It’s famed for its granite peaks, rising straight up from the coastline, and forest-covered hillsides and valleys.
Skuleskogen National Park is situated in Sweden’s “High Coast” region, about halfway the East Coast, beside the Gulf of Bothnia in the Baltic Sea. It’s famed for its granite peaks, rising straight up from the coastline, and forest-covered hillsides and valleys.
As you might expect if you follow my photography, I was drawn to it both for my continued interest in Nordic culture, and for the chance to get back to the Boreal Forest, which covers a whole band around the globe, through Canada, Scotland, Norway, Sweden, Finland, Eastern Europe, and Russia. I think it’s probably my favourite environment, and it’s home to some of my favourite species of wildlife too, such as moose, bears, beavers, wolves, and lynx. On this occasion though, we were looking just for the landscapes, rather than the notoriously shy forest wildlife.
As you might expect if you follow my photography, I was drawn to it both for my continued interest in Nordic culture, and for the chance to get back to the Boreal Forest, which covers a whole band around the globe, through Canada, Scotland, Norway, Sweden, Finland, Eastern Europe, and Russia. I think it’s probably my favourite environment, and it’s home to some of my favourite species of wildlife too, such as moose, bears, beavers, wolves, and lynx. On this occasion though, we were looking just for the landscapes, rather than the notoriously shy forest wildlife.
My first experience of Swedish National Parks was certainly a good one. Unlike British National Parks, Skuleskogen has no roads, no buildings with electricity or running water. Just a few camp-sites and wooden cabins. In two days there, we saw a total of 4 other people. Now that’s my kind of holiday :-)
I don’t think I’ve ever been anywhere with so many trees for so many miles. Even compared to the areas of British Columbia that I saw, Sweden appears perfectly under-populated, wild, and green. So I took the opportunity to continue my Only Trees project, and take a few more “treescapes”…
From the top of Slåttdalsberget mountain, you can see across the myriad of islands that make up the High Coast archipelago, and out to sea. We were visiting during the middle of the day, so no “golden hour” light, and as it happened the weather was pretty unhelpful. But this photo still illustrates the landscape, even if not in the best light. Incidentally, if you do want to see this view at it’s best, you’ll need to be there at sunrise. That means camping at one of the nearby camp sites, and getting up to the top (an hour or so’s climb), for around 3am in May!
I’m going to finish with probably my favourite shot of the trip. This photo shows a granite rock former-sea-bed winding it’s way through the forest, now 50-60 meters above sea-level. The whole area is a mind-boggling combination of glacier-formed troughs, granite peaks, and dense forest This image sums it up nicely for me.
If you’re looking for an escape from the world, to a sanctuary of trees and birdsong, I can highly recommend a visit to Skuleskogen.
–
George
