Övre Rånddalen

The decision to create the nature reserve is under appeal. The regulations describing what the public may do apply until otherwise notified.

In the nature reserve, you can experience bare mountains, wetlands with small lakes, a meandering river and a very old pine forest.

The oldest pines grew here as early as the 18th century. Admittedly, they grew as young seedlings then, but it makes you a little curious about what these old pines have experienced during their lifetime?

Among other things, you can find traces of forest fires in the pine forest. You can see tall stumps that are black with soot and charred parts. If you're lucky, you'll spot a fire crack, a damage in the pine's bark that looks like a gap.

Pine forests often do quite well in fires, but spruce and hardwoods are worse. They burn up, unless they are in or near wetter areas where the fire could not get through.

Amazingly, in a forest that is allowed to grow freely for a long time, trees die of their own accord. They remain as dry branches or lie down and slowly decompose into mulch.

A rare lichen, which is most common in southern Härjedalen and northern Dalarna, is the wolf lichen. You can see it from afar where the greenish-yellow lichen sits on dead parts of trees.

Wolf lichen is as poisonous as it looks. It is said that in the past people used the poison of the wolf lichen to protect themselves against wolves.