Granitberggrunden

Granite is the most common rock type throughout the region and there are both red and gray varieties. The red Växjögranite can be studied in a solid "cleft" (outcrop) in a few places near the trail, e.g. about 600 meters southeast of Sjömålen and just under 100 meters south of the lake shore, at the water tower in Fixalund, above the torp ruin near Drottning Kristina's source and at the end of the trail in the hill southeast of Grimmansmålasjön.

Granite is a medium to coarse-grained deep rock, consisting mainly of the minerals quartz (white-gray or slightly bluish) and potassium feldspar (red-violet) and otherwise black mica and gray calcium carbonate feldspar. The granite's well-formed fractures and fracture planes mean that there are good opportunities to find groundwater when drilling wells, and that mining and processing of ornamental stone is facilitated, but it is mainly mined for its beautiful color (Nilsson & Knutsson 1972). Some varieties of Småland granite are still quarried and refined, for example in the Oskarshamn area, and can then be seen as beautiful surface cladding in bank palaces and large hotels around the world - as well as, of course, display cases with art glass from Småland!

Quarrying of so-called block stone was relatively common in the early days of the stone industry for the manufacture of simple tombstones and stone pillars, which can be seen along the trail, e.g. northeast of the aforementioned source. The founders of what is now known as Emmaboda Granit are said to have searched for large blocks of both red and black granite (a basic rock type) in the vicinity of Hägerhult and Bialite in Algutsboda parish. Stone quarrying in solid rock and on a slightly larger scale can be studied on the other side of the old highway and the houses at Fixalund (near the water tower).