Salboknös, Naturreservat

The Salboknös nature reserve is one of the county's most unusual nature reserves, located between Hällefors and Kopparberg. The reserve contains a mighty boulder slope, the foremost example of its kind in Örebro County. 500-year-old pines grow on the slope and at the foot there are spruce-dominated old-growth forests in a mosaic with marshes and streams.

The county's oldest pines?

In the 1480s, some of the pine trees that are still alive today began to grow under Salboknö's cliff. With an age of over 500 years, they are most likely among the oldest in the county. The pine forest on the Salboknö escarpment is possibly Örebro County's only primeval forest that has not been affected by man. The majority of the forest in the reserve consists of coniferous forest. Spruce swamp forest grows in damp areas, rocky areas and mountains are home to rocky pine forest, and spruce forest can be found on the fresh ground. Traces of previous forest fires can sometimes be seen on older pine stumps, which are then black and blackened at the edges.

Mighty boulder steepness

The mighty boulder slope below Salboknös' southwestern precipice is a good example of how the bedrock is crisscrossed and altered by fractures and how this impact can create mighty rock and boulder shapes. Salboknös lies at the intersection of two fracture systems that dominate the geology of the area. Geologists usually refer to this kind of powerful blocky slope below a clear cliff as a "talus slope", "talus cone" or just "talus". A talus slope occurs when boulders break away from the upper parts of the cliff and fall down the mountain. The heaviest blocks usually fall at the bottom.

Most of the boulders in the slope have probably been broken out of the fractured rock by the ice sheet, when it advanced over Salboknös like a large grader. Traces of this can be seen in some blocks, where ice grooves still remain. In all likelihood, the talus slope is still growing today as blocks are detached from the rock in connection with the sharp temperature changes that can occur during snowmelt.

Plants and animals

One of the birds you may see or hear when you visit Salboknös is the raven. The raven nests on the slopes and often flies above the mountain or the southwest slope. Other birds that visit the area are osprey, great spotted woodpecker, tawny owl, three-toed woodpecker, tawny owl and pearl owl. You may also see other birds of prey circling above the boulder area on the thermals (warm air that rises and helps the birds gain height) that form there.

The forest in the reserve is very old in places and several red-listed lichens have been found in it. Two lichens that thrive in the reserve are the violet-grey thorn lichen, a hanging lichen that grows on coniferous tree branches, and the aspen yellow lichen, a green-black leaf lichen that usually grows on the bark of old aspen trunks. The rare and beautiful lungwort grows sparsely on willow and aspen trees. Spotted spurge, a very rare fungus with a light yellow color with faint brown spots, grows on old fallen pines.

Traces of coal production

There are clear traces of coal mining in several places at Salboknös. The remains of the demolished coal mine (so called after it is emptied of coal) usually consist of a circular slight elevation in the ground, about 5 - 8 meters in diameter, sometimes larger.

Show consideration and be careful!

The rocky slope on the south-western side of Salbokno makes the area inaccessible to humans and therefore provides excellent protection for animals that do not want to be disturbed. Because of this, it is very important that you show consideration when visiting the reserve during the period February through May. You should not visit the rocky area in the southwest during this period. Also be aware of the risk of injury, it is easy to slip or fall between the blocks in the cliffs. Be careful and avoid walking in the sea of boulders.

Sign interpreted information

Winter excursions in Salboknös