Ekastiga, Naturreservat

In Ekastiga Nature Reserve, visitors encounter a rolling landscape of beech forest and pastures. Ekastiga is an example of a so-called ridge landscape created by the melting of the inland ice.

Ekastiga Nature Reserve consists of a hilly landscape dominated by a steep, partly beech-covered pebble ridge. Along the ridge there are depressions, known as ridge pits, which were created by ice blocks lingering during the melting of the ice sheet and thus creating pits in the loose deposits when the blocks melted. In addition to beech forest and pasture, the reserve also contains some spruce forest and a small alder bog.

In English

Welcome to Ekastiga Nature Reserve

In Ekastiga you find an undulating terrain with a mixture of open land and forested ridges. The area was formed by the inland ice. Strong subglacial meltwater rivers brought with them stones and gravel, which were deposited in long, meandering ridges as the water slowed. The ridge in Ekastiga winds through the landscape, splitting and branching out. Between the ridges are water-filled depressions and damp, sometimes forested, wetlands. The depressions formed when blocks of ice left by the retiring glacial sheet became surrounded by sediment and later melted.

The steep ridges in Ekastiga are now clad in beech trees, standing to attention. White anemone covers the ground in spring, and to the north, you can find its relative, liverleaf.

Along the slopes are traces of cultivation that took place here a long time ago. People cleared the small plots by hand and placed the collected stones in small heaps. These clearance cairns, sometimes completely overgrown by moss and grass, can be discerned among shrubs and trees.

Regulations

Within Ekastiga Nature Reserve it is forbidden to:

• dig or in other way damage fixed natural objects or surface formations,
• make any form of construction or erect objects alien to the reserve,
• bring unleashed dogs,
• light fires,
• drive motorized vehicles other than on designated roads,
• park other than in designated places,
• camp, park caravans, camper vans or similar,
• break off branches, fell or in any other way damage living or dead trees or shrubs, or dig up plants,
• put up information boards, placards, posters, signs or similar, or make inscriptions.