The nature reserve consists of Stensjön with surrounding varied woodlands and large open marshes with high botanical values.
Stensjön and the surrounding forest
Stensjön is a relatively shallow lake that is home to perch, pike, roach and tench, but also rainbow trout that have been planted. The woodland within the reserve is of varying character - from older lean and dry pine forests to richer deciduous forests on moist land. Some parts of the forest have not been cultivated for a long time and have the character of natural forest. The mainly pine-dominated coniferous forests contain old, coarse pine with elements of deciduous trees such as oak, aspen and birch. Some of the really large oaks have particularly high natural values. Many of the natural values in Smedjevik are also linked to dead wood in various forms and stages of decomposition.
Bird paradise, cool butterflies and beautiful mosses
Bird life in the woodland is rich. Some of the species you may encounter are wolverine, black grouse, capercaillie, lesser spotted woodpecker, crane and pearl owl. At Stensjön you may also see Eurasian bittern and osprey. The flora includes interesting species such as the wood bumblebee moss, flower beard lichen and breadfruit. Many insects thrive in the old trees, such as the brown wood borer, Russian hightail and red-necked black beetle. South of Stensjön you will find two large open marsh complexes. These wetland areas are home to the unusual orchids bog and marsh orchids, and butterfly species such as the neglected moth, rose-breasted fritillary and black-spotted fritillary. On some of the moors there is an abundance of the otherwise western species bellflower and marsh lily.
Mowing in older times
The moist and fertile hayfields around Stensjön were shared by many villages. The availability of large areas of hay meadows was necessary to cope with the winter keeping of the animals. Even in the 1940s, some previously wet areas were used as fields in the western part of the reserve. When the cultivation of these fields ceased, they became damp again and have since been used to some extent for grazing.
There are abundant slag heaps (piles of residual products from iron production) within the reserve that testify to the iron production of older times. Iron-containing bottom sludge has been extracted and processed from the lake and its adjacent marshes. The name Smedjevik probably originates from extensive iron processing at the site.