Långasjönäs, Naturreservat

In Långsjönäs nature reserve you have good opportunities for outdoor activities all year round. Here you can enjoy lovely walks in the forest, a refreshing swim, fishing or why not go skiing. The area is dominated by spruce forests, but there are also lush oak and beech forests as well as lakes and streams.

The area once belonged to two large estates in separate villages, Långasjönäs and Södra Hoka. In the 18th and 19th centuries there was a paper mill, distillery, mill, sawmill, starch factory and about 20 crofts. Of most of the buildings, only ruins now remain.

Preserved agricultural landscape

At Södra Hoka, part of the old agricultural landscape has been preserved. There are grazed pastures with impressive juniper bushes and plants such as bluebell, clove and maidenhair. Old farmsteads, stone walls and cairns are other traces of the area's history. In other parts of the reserve, fields, meadows and pastures have long since been planted with conifers or have grown back into deciduous forest.

Deciduous forests

The nature reserve's varied deciduous forests, with dead and hollow trees, are home to a rich bird life. The chorus of singing spring birds includes blackcap and green warbler. If you're lucky, you might catch a glimpse of the stonechat among the trees' foliage. Another interesting bird that has been seen in the area is the lesser flycatcher.

One of the characteristic plants of the deciduous forests in spring and early summer is the starflower. Later in the summer, the larkspur blooms - easily recognized by its violet bracts and golden-yellow flowers. Other interesting plants are the lesser celandine and spiny herb. Northeast of Stora Kroksjön is an alpine meadow with unusual species such as creeping sedge, wood sorrel and middlewort. Safsa, Sweden's largest fern, grows along Mieån.

Fish, birds and ice age relics

The lakes in Långasjönäs are fine fishing waters with pike, perch and introduced salmonids such as rainbow trout and char. Lake Stora Kroksjön is a breeding ground for grebes and grebes. There are also ice age relics of small crustaceans. These 'living fossils' have been in the lake since it was connected to the sea 10 000 years ago.