The national park of Söderåsen is considered to be a real gem by many. It’s accessible, suitable for vanlifers and travellers alike. So we headed for a visit.
Söderåsen founded 2001
Söderåsen National Park was founded in 2001 after many years of turbulence. It started all the way back in the 1800s, when Theodor Jönsson, the owner of the land, refused to start exploating the rock.
His house burned down and he was gifted a new house. On one premise, that he’d allow the scree slopes on his property to be crushed and sold. He refused, and chose to live with his family in a barn the following years. Hence, the area survived and wasn’t touched in a brutal way.
Still, it took almost a century for the area to gain National Park status. But what is it that makes Söderåsen so special?
The beech woods of Söderåsen
One of the special things with Söderåsen is its beech woods. It’s really something spectacular to walk under the thick canopy that the trees create above our heads. Unfortunately, many of the commercial forests have been replanted with fir, not indigenous to the forests of Skåne.
However, since this land has remained fairly untouched, the trees have grown and left no light to reach the forest floor for other species to thrive. This leaves the forest floor very sparse, and creates a great hall-like atmosphere. We found it to be very relaxing.
The scree slopes of Söderåsen
The magnificent scree slopes have been created during millions of years. Söderåsen is a mountain ridge that through several ice ages have frozen and cracked into the scree slopes we see today. The ice created valleys and places for water to flow. The slopes provides homes for many species, you can find the only Swedish Theraphosidae, or Tarantula here.
It’s dangerous to climb the slopes so please, respect the boundaries.
Diversity
There are species that are on the red list, meaning they are endangered and being protected. This includes flowers, mushrooms, moss, insects and so on. Leaving the forest and surroundings fairly untouched gives the forest time and space for it to fall back in its natural, uninterrupted rhythm.
Lastly
If you want to take a break and have a fika, do so in one of the many camping spots. Of course we did so, some of us even fell asleep on the grass under the blue sky.
There aren’t many warning signs or railings so keep in mind to be careful when in nature.
We fell in love with this place. Being able to enjoy in such an accessible manner made it easy for us to put it on our list of favourites. In heinsight, we would’ve brought our tent to camp on some of the camping spots around. What a dream to make this excursion a weekend or even a week. We’ll do that next time.
To read more, visit: Söderåsens Nationalpark
Leave a Reply