Kvarnaberget, Naturreservat

Kvarnaberget consists mainly of so-called scrub oak forest that is between 100-150 years old. The trunks of the oaks are crooked and slender. The peculiar shapes of the trees are due to the fact that they have grown slowly on poor soil while the area has been grazed. There are no marked trails in the reserve, but the relatively sparse forest is easy to navigate. Don't miss the Hallskår crevice valley in the southern part of the reserve, an exciting and scenic environment.

The forest at Kvarnaberget is naturally regenerated. The trees' trunks are short, weak and often crooked and twisted. The sometimes bizarre shapes of the trees are due to the fact that they grew slowly on poor soil, but the previous grazing on the outlying land has also contributed to the special appearance of the trees. It is possible that the farmers had wolfish pigs here, whose barking helped the oak to establish itself.

Important forest

The great age of the forest and the fact that it has not been greatly affected by forestry have made it very important for the flora and fauna. Many interesting mosses, lichens and fungi grow on the old oaks. Among the rarer species are mussel lichen, grainy lichen, large bud lichen and the fungus oak bark.

Stream at the bottom of the ravine

The valley in the southern part of the area is of a peculiar kind, with large moss-covered boulders and rock walls up to five meters high in the east, also covered with swelling moss mats. Here, at the bottom of the ravine, you are surrounded by old oaks and the occasional alder, aspen, rowan and hazel. The silence is almost compact, with only a small stream slowly trickling down through the ravine to a small alpine meadow where, in early summer, you can see the water clover blooming in white.

Protected for a long time

As early as the 1940s, the National Board of Antiquities (later the National Board of Antiquities) protected Kvarnaberget. The decision emphasized the area's then 100-year-old oak forests "of a distinctive crown type" as a valuable feature in a region where large areas were otherwise planted with spruce. When Domänverket was incorporated in the 1990s, an agreement was signed with the state and Kvarnaberget was converted into a nature reserve. At the end of 2008, Kvarnaberget was expanded from 9 hectares to just over 45 hectares and now also includes the more southerly Hallaskår reserve. Here, too, there is a 150-year-old oak forest with stems that are thin and crooked, known as scrub oak forest. Along the southwestern border of the area runs a small rift valley that has given Hallaskår its name.

Tönnersjöheden is being afforested

Hallaskår, together with Kvarnaberget's oak stands, is a remnant of earlier large oak forests. As late as 1940, there were reportedly still 150 hectares of oak forests left. However, according to older files from Lantmäteriet, the oak forests seem to be the first generation of forest after heathland. The area seems to have been treeless during the 17th century, a condition that was reinforced during the 18th and 19th centuries when the huge Tönnersjöheden spread out in the area. However, it is likely that oak trees remained on mountain slopes and in other inaccessible areas, such as Hallaskår. In the 1840s, grazing pressure decreased and Tönnersjöheden slowly began to grow again.

Camping is permitted for one night in accordance with the right of public access.