Bjäret, Naturreservat

The Bjäret nature reserve is part of the "Frostavallen" hiking area. There is a lot for the outdoor enthusiast, from fishing and swimming to hiking and overnight stays in shelters. On the various hiking trails you can experience beech forests, lakes, views from old volcanoes and many traces from the crofters and farmers of older times.

Ulfsbjär - remains of a volcano

Large parts of the nature reserve are located on a basalt hill, Ulfsbjär. It is the remains of a volcano that was active 80-170 million years ago. The black basalt rock is the lava that petrified in the lava pillars of the extinct volcano. The ice sheet has since leveled the southern side of the basalt dome about 12,000 years ago. The northern and eastern sides, on the other hand, have distinctive rocky slopes, known as thalus slopes. In the west, Ulfsbjär plunges down towards the winding Hålsaxabäcken stream. The wooded land in the northern parts of the reserve slopes down towards Dagstorpssjön.

Old outfield with traces from the past

In older times, large parts of the area were used as outfield grazing. The area's grazing animals grazed on the open and treeless grasslands. Traces that remain from this "bright" time are the wide-crowned and multi-stemmed beech trees, as well as old and dead juniper bushes. They can be seen up on Ulfsbjär. Other traces from older times are the remains of the "Sjöhuset" croft, where an outbuilding still stands. There are also plenty of stone fences throughout the area.

Lichen-covered giant beech trees and bats

The really old trees in the reserve have high natural values and are home to a large number of mosses and lichens. Here are the slow-growing, really old beech trees in the ravines around Ulfsbjär. Up at the top there are instead the multi-stemmed giant beech trees with their wide crowns. On their weathered and knotty bark you can see pink lichen, pincushion lichen, purple-grey porlav, beech edge lichen and beech spring lichen.

The soil with its volcanic origin contributes to the rich vegetation up on Ulfsbjär. In the spring, seas of wood anemones and yellow anemones spread out. They are then followed by yellow thistle, meadow-grass and the rare grass forest fescue. Along the Hålsaxa stream there are multi-stemmed old alders in the swamp forest that is occasionally flooded. Bjäret is also home to many different bat species.

Outdoor life

Bjäret, like the nearby reserves Frostavallen-Ullstorp Link to another website and Dagstorp Link to another website, is part of the Frostavallen hiking area, which is managed by Höörs municipality and the Skånska Landskap Foundation. The Skåneleden trail runs through the reserve as does the 16 km Pilgrims Trail. The latter starts at the Åkersberg diocese in Höör and ends at St. Olofskälln at Hallaröd's medieval church. There are also a large number of circular loops in the hiking area. In the reserve you will find the Bjäretslingan (white) which is 3.3 km. It passes the Ulfsbjär hill, which is the remains of an old volcano. Circular trails that pass the reserve are Långstorpsslingan 9.9 km (green) and Dagstorpsslingan 9.3 km (blue). The reserve has parking with toilets and a rest area. For those who want to spend the night, there is a shelter at Dagstorpssjön. There is a barbecue area at the shelter. Remember to bring charcoal if you are going to grill and to take your garbage home.

In English

Welcome to Bjäret Nature Reserve

The Reserve stretches from the rocky shores of Lake Dagstorpssjön in the north to the slopes of the old volcano Ulfsbjär in the south. Well-trodden paths take you through the area with ease. You can spend the night and have a barbeque at the shelter by the lake or have a snack at one of the picnic areas in the shade of the beech trees. Welcome out!

As you walk through the cool, green woodland, it may be hard to imagine lava spewing volcanoes. But this is in fact a part of the history of Bjäret. What remains of the more than one hundred million year old volcano are the inner passages where the magma rose up, now solidified into angular basalt columns, that form Ulfsbjär today. The herb-rich woodland flora with woodruff, yellow anemone and coral root also reflects the volcanic history. Basalt makes for very nutritious soil.

Two hundred years ago, the only woodland was on the slopes of Ulsfbjär, the rest was open pasture with scattered trees and bushes. A hundred years later, the woodland has started to close in, but it is still light with lots of glades. Hay was harvested for the animals from the wet hollows along the Hålsaxabäcken stream and by Lake Dagstorpssjön, and there were small fields around the croft "Sjöhuset". Tha old stone walls remind us of the toil required from previous generations to make a living from the land.

The large, open-grown beech trees next to Ulfsbjär are a couple of hundred years old and grew up in an open pasture landscape. The moist air and the age of the trees mean that we can find unsual beetles, fungi and lichens next to the old volcano.

Regulations

Within Bjäret Nature Reserve it is forbidden to:

• remove, dig, bore, paint or in any other way damage the ground, stones, stone walls, natural features or archaeological remains,
• park up caravans, camper vans or equivalent at the car park between midnight and 5am,
• bring a dog (or any other pets) not physically held on a lead,
• dig up or damage in any other way plants (including mosses), lichens, or wood-living fungi,
• light a fire other than with a camping stove, or light a fire with wood, charcoal or use a barbeque other than in the designated places,
• intentionally break or collect and remove dead wood.

Without written permission from the County Administrative Board it is also forbidden to:

• collect invertebrates e.g., beetles or molluscs,
• put out or set up tape, orienteering controls, or equivalent items other than temporarily, for a maximum of ten days, on the condition that the contact information and the date when the item was put out is noted on the said item,
• put out foreign (for the Reserve) objects.