Fänstjärnsskogen, Naturreservat

Fänstjärnsskogen is considered to be one of the most valuable natural forest areas in central Sweden. Here you can walk in a forest that is almost completely unaffected by modern forestry and see a 600-year-old pine. Perhaps Värmland's oldest tree?
Brown-powdered needle lichen Photo: Sebastian Kirppu

Photos in the slideshow: Värmland County Administrative Board, unless otherwise stated.

Before your visit

It is about 1.4 kilometers from the parking lot to the reserve boundary. The trail follows the old mule track, to Värnäs-Tväråssätern. Before you reach the reserve, you can turn off the trail and walk 300 meters to a fireplace hut that is open for those who want to rest or spend the night.

Inside the reserve there is a circular trail of about 1.4 kilometers. In the forest, it is quite hilly with some tough uphills that give you a pulse.

There are old untouched forests and endangered species

In Fänstjärnsskogen, the forest has been unbroken for a very long time. Only small felling has been done in the forest stand. During the 18th and 19th centuries, the forest was affected by countless fires. Some were natural, while many were set to improve grazing for the animals from Värnäs-Tväråssätern. The traces of the fires are clearly visible in the large number of fire-damaged dry pines and many living pine trees with fire noises.

There are many large pine trees in the reserve's forest that survived the fires. Most of the area's forest consists of pine, and many of the trees have an average age of 200-250 years. The oldest living tree is a 600-year-old pine called the Queen. It stands right next to the northern border of the reserve but is not easy to find. There are also some other pines that are 350 or 400 years old.

Thanks to the great age of the forest, the unbroken continuity of the forest and the large number of dead trees, there are a large number of threatened species in the area. Here you can find, among others, woolly tick, wrinkled skin, wolf lichen, Norwegian beak lichen, violet-grey thorn lichen and forest steppe moss. Birds of concern such as the grey woodpecker, three-toed woodpecker and barn owl sometimes nest in the reserve.

How the nature reserve was formed

The nature reserve was formed on the initiative of Bengt Sonesson, one of the forest owners at the time, and Ingemar Brelin, a nature conservationist in northern Värmland. The aim is to protect a natural forest area and preserve the high natural values. The area is part of the EU's ecological network of protected areas, Natura 2000.

Read more

For those who want to delve further into the reserve, there is a report on the reserve that can be ordered as a pdf or printed report via the nature conservation resource mailbox:naturvard.varmland@lansstyrelsen.se