Valberget, Naturreservat

Valberget is a spectacular mountain, with mighty lodge walls rising above the surrounding landscape. The hilly terrain of the nature reserve is dominated by deciduous and pine forests.

Outdoor recreation and accessibility

The nature reserve is relatively inaccessible, about 2 kilometers from Tararp and 1.5 kilometers from Kölja, and there is currently no reserve parking in the area. But once you get here, the nature reserve is well worth a visit, not least the viewpoint up on Valberget. There is also the mighty overhang, called Kyrkan, and large boulders. Paths and small dirt roads lead through the area's forests. The vertical walls of Valberget are popular climbing areas and there are several climbing routes.

There are no accessibility facilities within the nature reserve and due to its inaccessible location and hilly terrain, none are planned.

Continuity forests and high nature values

The nature reserve is characterized by oak, hornbeam and pine mixed forests as well as beech forests, swamp forests and a hydrologically intact wooded bog. The forests are of different ages with a large number of older trees, up to 150 years old. Within the nature reserve there are red-listed and other species of natural value interest, including orange-powdered scribble lichen, rust spot, trap moss, golden curl moss, rock fennel, western hook moss, ivy and missne. Several of these are associated with broadleaf forests with high natural values and areas where there has been unbroken forest for a very long time. On damp or silted-up rock faces, foxtail moss and Siberian moss can be found.

A small part of Lake Agnsjön, with its shores and outlet to the south, is also included in the nature reserve. Agnsjön is one of two lakes in Blekinge where there is leech.

Below the vertical walls of Valberget, directly east of the nature reserve, there was previously a lake, Valsjön. It was drained in the 1920s to create farmland. Most of the former lake bottom is now forested.

Pilgrimsfalksberg, prehistoric graves and croft land

There are many myths and stories about Valberget. In the 18th century, the mountain's name was linked to the Valhall(a) of Norse mythology, which according to today's place name research is not correct. The name has also been linked to the Old Norse word valr, which means falcon. In the 19th century, it was said that peregrine falcons nested at Valberget and had done so since "time immemorial". Peregrine falcons are said to have nested at the mountain at least into the 1930s. But the mountain's name probably comes from another older word, the Swedish-Danish val, which means stick or staff and which here is supposed to refer to the high stone pillars that make up the mountain's south-eastern side. It has also been said that the mountain was a hereditary stupa, but according to modern research this is probably a myth.

Valberget Nature Reserve is located on old outlying land on the border between Tararps and Köljas villages, Asarums and Hällaryds parishes. Despite the area's relatively inaccessible location today, there are plenty of cultural and historical traces and remains. The oldest are stone circles, which are probably cremation graves, from the Bronze-Iron Age, located on some of the slightly lower mountains in the southeastern part of the nature reserve. This type of grave was, as here, usually built on mountain heights, clearly visible from ancient travel routes and settlements.

From recent centuries there are several stone walls that show old property and land ownership boundaries. Some older roads also run through the area. In the southern part of the reserve, during the 19th century, there were cultivated fields and meadows belonging to a croft, Wahltorpet. There are still many remains on the croft land, including stone walls, cairns, building foundations and remaining stump-grown broad-leaved trees. Parts of the land continued to be farmed until the 1970s and the surrounding forests were grazed by cows until the 1980s.