Sundsjömarken, Naturreservat

The Sundsjömarken nature reserve is an untouched mosaic of marshes, old-growth forests and quiet forest lakes. In large parts, you have to make your way through unpaved terrain, but give it a try - here you can experience a real wilderness where the capercaillie plays and the loon calls.

Old growth forest

Most of the forests in the area are over 120 years old, but many of the trees are much older than that. Here and there are pines that were already sprouting in the early 1700s. The oldest spruces are around 200 years old. There are also many old, large aspens in the reserve. Parts of the forests are characterized by fires. Forest fire is a natural feature that benefits many species.

Rich bird life

The bogs can give a desolate impression during parts of the year, but in the spring nature's own wilderness choir sounds over the area. The air is filled with the loud trumpet blasts of cranes

cranes and whooper swans and the wistful trills of curlews. From Lake Sundsjön you can hear the desolate cry of the guillemot. In some of the smaller lakes, little grebes nest. Among the forest birds

include goshawks, barn owls and three-toed woodpeckers. Both capercaillie and black grouse also play in the reserve.

Lichen and fungi

There is a particularly strong sense of wilderness in those parts of the reserve where hanging lichens drape the branches of the trees. Tagella lichens and bearded lichens dominate, but the rare yarn lichen is also present. Unusual lichens have also been found on the sheared bark of old aspens. Old and dead trees are vital for many of the inhabitants of the old-growth forest. For example, wood fungi such as the woolly tick, the border tick, the starry tick and the salmon tick grow on fallen, decaying trees.

Traces of the past

We are in Bergslagen, an area that has been characterized by mining and ironworks for a long time. In the surroundings of the reserve there are plenty of abandoned mine holes. At Sundsjöbäcken you can see the ruins of an old cabin and in the forest west of the lake there are traces of several small crofts.