Syter - Viterskalet

The Höga kustenleden trail

Höga kustenleden offers 129 kilometres of hiking from the High Coast Bridge at Kramfors, right up to Örnsköldsvik. The experience includes a unique coastline, a national park, sandy beaches, rocky cliffs and primeval forest. Take a detour out into the archipelago and taste a Swedish speciality, surströmming (fermented herring) with newly baked crispbread.

If you start in the south, Höga Kustenleden wanders northwards through forests and along the coast. Most of the hiking here is on pathways and small gravel roads. Overnight in a tent or hut, in a wind shield or cabin. It’s worth remembering that accommodation is limited, and there is a risk of it being full in the peak season. For this reason, the safest alternative is to carry your own tent.

The central part of Höga kustenleden is dominated by the region around Skuleberget and the Skuleskogen national park. This is remarkably beautiful with many opportunities to make detours along well-marked paths. Here you find dark tarns, stone-strewn fields, burbling brooks and deep ravines, among them the spectacular Slåtterdalsskrevan.

North of the national park the route takes you along a mixture of roads and paths. A hostel at Köpmanholmen offers accommodation, and from here you can take the ferry out into the archipelago. The sandy beach at Sör-Balesviken is a popular place to stop, and make sure that you take a short detour to the rocky cliff at Balesudden. As you then continue northwards, you again hike along roads and through recreational areas, to end the route in Örnsköldsvik.

The highest point is the Skuleberg peak, 286 metres, and the terrain has highs and lows along the complete route. There are many viewpoints that are well worth the walk up, even if this means your legs get to work extra in both uphills and downhills.

The website of Örnsköldsvik municipality provides maps of Höga kustenleden, together with a book, Naturguiden, that provides useful information about the region. The official visitor site hogakusten.com gives detailed descriptions of the stages, and other useful information.

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