Gällsjöhöjden, Naturreservat

The old-growth forest in the Gällsjöhöjden nature reserve has been untouched for a long time. Large pines and aged spruces with traces of three-toed woodpeckers contribute to the feeling of wilderness. There are also plenty of capercaillie here.

Old forest and dead wood

At Gällsjöhöjden, there has hardly been any forestry since the workhorse disappeared from forestry. Large parts of the forest began to grow sometime in the 1800s. Since then, the forest has been left to look after itself and has developed clear characteristics of natural forest. There are many older, late-growing spruces and several of the pines are really old, up to 350 years old. There are also plenty of storm-felled trees and stumps, where many insects, mosses and fungi thrive. In the reserve, you can find, among other things, the star fungus, a rare fungus that grows on the underside of rotten spruce trunks.

Typical forest birds

Gällsjöhöjden is also home to many species of large forest birds, including capercaillie, which has a strong population and plays in the area. The three-toed woodpecker also nests here, an unusual species that places high demands on its habitat and thrives in natural forests with dead trees. It leaves typical tracks in the form of hack marks in bands around the trunks of trees, known as drip rings.

Rare lichens

The highest points of Gällsjöhöjden reach almost 300 meters above sea level.Fjälltjärnen is one of Karlskoga's highest lakes. The forest on the heights is sparse with narrow-crowned spruces. Many trees are top-broken, a result of the area's harsh climate with many snowy winters. The large number of bogs, marshes and swamp forests creates a high level of humidity in the area, which favors many unusual lichens. One of these is the Norwegian beak lichen, a very rare species that requires untouched forest with high and even humidity.

Pyr-Brittas health source

There are few traces of people in the reserve. A few small crofts have existed in the immediate area, including Gällsjötorp and Pyrbo just north of Lilla Gällsjön. Only remains of houses and farmland remain today. Northwest of Pyrbo is Pyr-Brittas källa, a health spring with a long tradition in the area.

Accessibility

Gällsjöhöjden belongs to level 1 in the County Administrative Board's leveling of the county's nature reserves, which means that the reserve has a wilderness character and lacks outdoor recreation facilities.