Trail Information

Distance: 6.8km

Difficulty: Intermediate

Transport: Bus from Ullånger to Stockholm. You can also arrange a Taxi to the High Coast Airport, though the taxi fare is more than the cost of the flight to Stockholm.

Accommodation & Shopping

FRILUFTSBYN

A reasonably new campsite, it was undergoing significnat construction when I was there adding new additional showers, cabins and other facilities. A shop with souvenirs and some basics like firewood, beer, wine and soft drinks is also where you check in, and there is space for camper vans as well as a large field for tents.

During my time there, the annual ArcNat competition was going on, teams of architects were completing challenges through the high coast, previously having created blended seating area swings or an eco-cabin they were now looking at creating some kind of wind tunnel.

The staff were lovely and very helpful. The chair lift to the top had not opened yet, and so you had to choose whether to hike the route or walk around to the Via Ferrata and do a climb.

After setting up, I headed into Docksa.

DOCKSA

I’d been warned by the staff at Friluftsbryn that Docksa’s food choices were pretty much limited to fast food, but I’d gotten tired of boiled in the bag dinners and fancied a chance to stretch my legs without a heavy bag.

Docksa is about a kilometre away from Friluftsbryn, an easy walk. Three petrol stations facing each other mark Docksa, surrounding a fountain with the Scandinavian flags blowing in the wind. The restaurant that is part of the Preem service station had close at 6pm, and the other restaurant was a typical Swedish pizza place. It was only open another fifteen minutes to 7pm, but they were nice enough to make me a calzone, tidied the restaurant around me and zipped past me on an ATV on the road before I was halfway back to the campsite.

SIDE TRAILS & ADD-ONS

SKULEBERGET

As I wanted to crack on to Ullånger, I had an early start on Skuleberget and so this decided my way to the top. Via Ferrata climbing, which I would love to do, opened at 10am and was a 3-4 hour climb to the top. This would have meant making little progress on the trail itself. Instead I had a quick breakfast and coffee, packed up and hiked up, planning to be back at the campsite before the climbing center had even opened.

The first half an hour of the hike is very tough, very steep and sometimes challenging to find the next stretch of the trail. Initially you are hiking through deep woods with a lot of loose rocks(during which you will find the ArkNat seat), but then reach a level above the trees and it is bare rock but with some fantastic views over Docksa and the ocean.

Once past the bare rock, you hae a nice, and fairly easy forest trail, with a reasonably gentle slope upwards, only the final few hundred meters are steep again to reach Toppstugan.

The summit has the cable car station, Toppstugan restaurant and some walkways and view points. The view is great and well worth the climb, its a good place to relax for a while. Water is available from a tap behind the restaurant and drop toilets are also available. The restaurant has fairly limited hours, even in mid summer, and is staffed by Friluftsbyn, so when the restaurant is open the campsite is not. As I was there early in the morning it was closed, but the lunch and waffle options are reputed to be excellent.

I decided to take the road back down, but made a mistake doing so, and followed the white markers, under the chair lift end ended up scaling a small cliff (so I did do some climbing!) to get back to Toppstugan and the actual road back down. The service road is a basic gravel road, fairly steep, but quite direct running more or less under the cable car. Its a good way back down with a heavy pack having done the climb up the trail.

Vibyggera Old Church

Just off the main trail, the old church of Vibyggera can be seen. it is still in use.

The Experience

Day 3

This trail, though listed as intermediate flew by, taking you through grasslands and forests, its pretty and quaint, but before you know it you’ve reached Skoved and are on the final section to Ullånger.

Route 7 - Skuleberget to Skoved