Kyrkstigarna

Here you are biking on parts of two church paths which were used to walk from the villages Tivedstorp and Åboholm down to the church in Sannerud. This is Tivedens most fun and most demanding trail which is partly very steep.

Take it easy, the path is very narrow and you might meet hikers.

Tivedstorp

You start at Tivedstorp, one of Tivedens old Finnish villages. In the 17th century Finns came here with the intention to populate this uninhabited wilderness, attracted by offers of free land and 6 years of tax exemption. They cleared land in the forest and started cultivating their crop “Svedjeråg”. The village of Tivedstorp grew and by the end of the 19th century it had around 140 inhabitants. After people migrated to the cities in the early 20th century the empty village was bought up by a voluntary organization which received refugees and later it became the hostel and café and remains so until today.

Churchpath Tivedstorp-Sannerud

You start on the Bergslagsleden until you reach the old forge of Tivedstorp, here the church path turns right. Tivedstorps inhabitants had to go the whole way to the church in Undenäs for a long time, but after the church was built in Sannerud in 1847, they could take this significantly shorter but not less rocky path down to town. The path is partly very steep but fun and technical. The nature among the trail is very beautiful with its green moss carpet, sharp boulders and old pines. The hiking trail goes down the whole way to the village but the biking path turns right onto a gravel road a bit before Sannerud.

Churchpath Sannerud-Åboholm

After following the gravel road for a little while, you turn into the next church path, the one going from Tiveds church up to the old village of Åboholm.

The trail leads you through the valley of Tarmlången, one of the longest and most outstanding valleys that formed in prehistoric times due to movement of the earth´s crust. As the rock rose up, water got into the little cracks and due to erosion over time, these cracks became a valley.

Bastlandsängen

Where the church path crosses the road, the biking trail leaves the path and follows the asphalt road for a bit. Later you turn left onto a gravel road which takes you to Bastlandsängen, one of Tivedstorps old farm houses. Here the trail becomes a forest path again and you bike among the old stone walls of the farm fields.