Myrkarby

A real primeval forest feeling meets you in Myrkarby. There are pines that are well over 300 years old, while most of the spruces are over 200 years old. There are not many deciduous trees, except in a small swampy forest area where there is a lot of alder.

The trees are of all ages. You can tell that the pines are old by their coarse lateral branches and by the fact that the bark is attached to each other in decimeter-sized strips with a smooth surface - so-called armored bark. Long, hanging lichens dangle from the branches of the old spruces. For at least the last three hundred years, the forest has been managed solely by clear-cutting, but there are also traces of old fires. You can see this in the north-western part, where there are pine trees that have partially lost their bark in the heat of the flames. The damage is called fire sound and is visible as scarring around the bare wood.

In a natural forest like this, with alternating living and dead trees in various stages of decay, mosses, lichens and wood-living fungi thrive. There are several species that are very rare and need this kind of nature to survive. There are also plenty of wood-boring beetles and, as the forest is left alone, the number of species is likely to increase.

The reserve has a small parking lot, but no marked trails. The nature reserve at Myrkarby has been established because this type of natural forest is becoming increasingly rare. When you visit the area, it is therefore important that you are careful and let the forest live in peace.

Services: Parking

Manager: County Administrative Board of Uppsala County