From our home in Värmland county, it took us three hours to drive to Tiveden National Park. My husband was in charge of driving since we left before the sun came up. As soon as I sat down in the passenger seat, I fell asleep.
After two hours, I was ready to go when the sun came up. My husband was starting to look sleepy, so I took over. My eyes got even bigger as we got closer to our goal. As we walked through the forests, we felt like we were back in time, before people built towns. What an amazing sight!
You can find the National Park at:
Address: Tivedens Nationalpark, Tived
Phone: +46010-224 86 11
Website: Tiveden Nat. Park
A heads up! There are a few things you should know before you go Hiking in Sweden.
Transportation
Without a car, it’s tough to get there. So, a great way to get to Tiveden National Park is by renting a car. For an easy trip, take Highway 49 and look for signs that say “Askerød.” There will be parking at the park’s main gate and in the northwest corner. Besides parking, there are bathrooms and an exhibit at the main gate that tells you a lot about the park and all the trails.
Overnight Stay in Tiveden National Park
You can find out more about where to stay at Sweden National Parks. But below, I have some information on camping, hostels, and cabins that you can rent.
Camping
Aside from the park, there are about 6 different places nearby where you can camp or bring your RV. If you need some good gear for camping, check out The Best Camping in Sweden: Hacks to Help Nature.
Hostels near or within Tiveden National Park
There are a number of hostels that you can pick from if you want to save money. They’re mostly all about the environment, and one of them will let you borrow their bikes to ride to the park, which is 500 meters away.
Hamgården Nature Resort Tiveden
There’s a cabin up for rent that’s cozy for two people. This place lies within nature, so it can be peaceful. It has a bathroom and wifi is available. So, go on Booking.com to book it now!
FYI:
Check out Tiveden’s webpage to learn about all the different places that you can stay or the places that offer food that’s near or inside the National Park.
The Dos and Don’ts in Tiveden National Park
Because this is a national park, you can only build a fire in the designated areas where fire pits have been set up for tourists. These spots will be close to the exits, and there will be stacks of wood nearby. If they tell you that they don’t have any wood, there isn’t anything that you can do unless you brought wood with you. So, it’s good to know that you’re not allowed to take wood from the wild. Besides the firepits, they will have gathering areas and places to recycle in these spots as well.
Camping
Karringgudden and Mellannäsudden are both places where you can camp. But it’s only for one night, and you have to abide by the time you’re allowed to camp, which is from 18:00 at night to 10:00 in the morning. Nobody can camp in Tiveden National Park other than during certain times of the year. So, pay attention to when you’re visiting and where you want to stay.
My hubby and I stayed at a hotel that was outside of Tiveden and we found out afterwards, one of the hotels near Tiveden National Park lets you rent their bikes. I guess it’s quite common for people to use their bikes and cycle around Tiveden.
Things to do
There’s a plethora of things that you can do within the park. For example, spend time outside climbing or riding a bike on one of the trails. You can even ride horses here. If you want to, you can go kayaking in the lakes in Tiveden National Park too. Besides that, there’s of course hiking! Many of the activities have tours. So, check out Tiveden.se to learn about all the fun outdoor adventures. You Can Check out the audio guides here: National Parks of Sweden
Hiking Tiveden National Park
There are marked trails for more than 34 km (21 mi.) in Tiveden national park. Enjoy different types of walks as you get to know nature. Plus, there are tracks that go through deep rift valleys and up to the tops of rocky hills, which I enjoyed. A lot of these paths go up and down hills, so get ready for the trip. Before you start walking on the roads, make sure you know how hard they are. Since each trail is a loop, a lot of them can be linked together. Check out the map before starting your first trail and see if you want to jump on a linked trail or not.
I had my helpful hubby as my map reader and we took a photo of the map as well so we had it on our phone. It makes it a lot easier planning our next trail when we can just pull up the picture.
Hike and Follow the Markings
You can choose from a number of paths. At the main entry, you can see which direction is which path and learn the colors for each one. At the front gate, you can look at a map of all the tracks and start making plans for your walk. As I mentioned before, take a picture of the map with your phone. That’s what we did as we walked on different tracks.
If you start early enough, you might be able to do a few trails in one day. Since all of the roads are clearly marked with their own colors, it makes it easy to stay on the right path. My husband, my dog, and I had a great time exploring these paths and we had time to enjoy a few trails. As we walked through the national park, the sun pelted the ground with its rays. Getting back to being in nature felt good. I could smell the fresh air when a breeze came up and I started to feel even more alive. An energy filled me as we began our walk. I felt a giddiness and full of life as I took my first steps into the park. As I looked at the beauty of nature, I felt excited. Being outside is a great way to connect to yourself!
1. Trollkyrkerunden Trail
Difficulty: Moderate- Difficult – Distance: 4.6 km (2.9 mi.)- Duration: Approx. 3.5 hours
The name of this loop, “Trollkyrkerundan,” means, “Troll church loop” and it starts at the main entry. This road is marked with red, and the first trail is shown by a white dot. Make sure you know which way you want to go on the trail that you choose. Near the front door, there’s a plan that shows two routes, one quicker and one longer. Stora (big) and Lilla (little) Trollkyrka are on this hike. In order to get to these trails, you need to take the wooden stairs.
2. Stenkällerundan Trail
Difficulty: Moderate – Distance: 2.2 km (1.4 mi.) – Duration: Approx. 2 hours
The Stone Well Loop is what Stenkallerundan is called in English. Even though the trail is short, it gets hard around the middle. This trail starts at the main entrance and finishes there as well. So, many people think it’s the best trail in Tiveden National Park. The first hike that we chose was this one, and I was amazed at how big the rocks were! Plus. some of the hills have steps that will help you get to the top and you can look down at the beauty. As I looked out over the land, the light hit Lake Vattern just right. Even though there were trees around, you could see the magical view. This path has yellow lines with two dots that you should follow.
3. Tärnekullerundan Trail
Difficulty: Moderate- Distance: 1.3 km (.8 mi.) – Duration: Approx. 1 hour
Tarnekullerundan translates to “Thorn Hill Loop” in English. Since this trail is short, it makes the hard part of the path easier to handle. This loop begins and ends at Vitsand. When you’re on this trail, there are nearby lakes that are all great spots for swimming. Besides that, you can see Lake Trehorningen on this pathway. Plus, you can venture to caves through the woods on this trail.
You’ll be able to walk along most of the paths in places with boulders. This hike will be marked with a light orange circle with three dots in it.The views from this trail were beautiful! As I went through the woods to follow the stream, my dog waited for me. Nothing had changed about this place’s beauty. This is how nature should be. People built bridges and stairs, but they tried very hard not to damage the National Park in any way.
4. Trehörningsrundan Trail
Difficulty: Moderate- Difficult- Distance: 9.5 km (5.9 mi.) – Duration: Approx. 6 hours
What does the name Trehorningsrundan mean? It means “three-horned loop.” The Tiveden National Park has one longer trail than this one. On this trail, you can walk all the way around the big lake Stora Trehorningen. Besides that, you can enjoy all the different types of plants and scenery that the park has to offer from this walk. For this hike, the signs are purple with four dots on them.
5. Oxögabergsrundan Trail
Difficulty: Difficult- Distance: 6.7 km (4.2 mi.) – Duration: Approx. 4.5 hours
This trail is called oxogabergsrundan, which translates to “ox eye mountain loop.” This trail goes through the old part of the woods. Once you start walking this trail, you’ll see that there are parts of it that go through valley cracks and grassy areas. But be aware, this path has tough parts at the start of it. This hike is marked with a light blue line with five dots on it.
6. Mellannäsrundan Trail
Difficulty: Easy- Distance: 1.9 km (1.2 mi.) – Duration: Approx. 30 minutes
The middle peninsula loop is what Mellannasrundan means. This is the park’s easiest trail. You can walk along this path between the lakes Stora (big) Trehorningen and Lilla (little) Trehorningen. The old burnt up trees can be seen on this trail. Besides that, you can see charcoal remains on some of them. There are six dots in green on the road to show where it is.
7. Junker Jägarerundan Trail
Difficulty: Moderate- Distance: 2.8 km (1.7 mi.) – Duration: Approx. 1.5 hours
There’s a story behind this trail. What does Junker Jagarerundan mean? It’s the squire hunting loop. You should definitely hike this trail. You can see the huge rock that the story is about on this trail. This huge rock wasn’t always here. It was brought here from the ice after more than 10,000 years. The story goes that Junker Jagare loses the woman he loves. There is a sign next to the rock that gives a little more information. The trail is marked with seven white dots. I couldn’t say anything when I saw this 15-meter-tall rock. It looked like it was looking down on everything around it. It seemed like a quiet place where you could just stare at the big rock or be amazed by it.
8. Vitsandsrundan Trail
Difficulty: Easy – Distance: 1 km (.6 mi.) – Duration: Approx. 30 min.
This trail is called the white sands loop. As you walk this trail, you can see the nice beach with white sand. You’ll notice that this easy, short trail isn’t fully marked yet as you walk along it. To get to the Vitsands caves, follow the orange-marked Tarnekulle trail. From there, take an unknown road to the east. The white trail (Junkerjagarerundan) will be there after you cross the road. To get into Vitsand, you go south. When they mark this trail, it will be black with eight white dots on it.
9. Stigmansrundan Trail
Difficulty: Moderate- Distance: 4.2 km (2.6 mi.) – Duration: Approx. 3 hours
It’s called the “thief’s loop” in Swedish. The main entrance is where this trail begins and stops. The road goes through a small rift valley, so it may take a while. After that, you will pass Stenkalla or be close to Trehorningens beach on your way back. On this walk, you can see some beautiful views of the water and nature. This trail is marked with gray pieces of cloth with nine dots on them that are wrapped around trees.
Travel Insurance in a Must!
Anytime that you go out of the country, it’s always essential to have travel insurance! My go to is Safety Wing since it was created by digital nomads for digital nomads. Plus, one adult plan covers up to two kids that are 10 years old and under. So, this works great for me since I have a 2.5 year old! Besides that, I love how this company truly cares about its clients since they’re working on making visas, passports and even pensions digital! Learn more about Safety Wings here.
Hiking in Sweden
If you want to hike more in Sweden, then check out Hiking Sweden. I break down more about Sweden along with give you some of the best trails to venture on. Besides that, there are great places to hike in Värmland county as well! This county is known as the nature county.
Maps of the Trails
For more information, check out these links:
Other parks:
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