Brattfors brandfält, Naturreservat

In the summer of 1992, a large forest area burned southwest of Brattfors.

Before the fire, the reserve consisted of pine forest with lingonberry and various lichens on the ground. The forest was normally logged and trees varied in age from about 10 to 80 years. In mire areas, individual pines may have reached a much higher age. The intensity of the fire varied greatly within the area.

Of the trees that were killed or damaged, a large proportion fell over. Self-regeneration of pine seedlings is significant. There are also younger deciduous trees such as wych elm and willow, but much of the deciduous growth has been grazed by moose.

In natural coniferous forests, fire is an important ecological factor. Recurrent forest fires create a mosaic of habitats in the landscape, with areas that have burned at different times and therefore reached different stages of growth, alternating with areas that have escaped the fire. However, modern firefighting and the low susceptibility of cultural forests to fire have made fire-affected forest a very unusual feature of the forest landscape. The Brattfors firefield therefore has great general ecological value.

The reserve was established to preserve a fire field and allow its characteristic vegetation and wildlife to develop freely based on the natural conditions of the area. The area is part of the EU's network of valuable nature, Natura 2000.

Animals and plants

For the first five years or so, there were plenty of open sandy areas on the heavily burned land. These areas were soon colonized by many species of wild bees, predatory wasps and roadside wasps, among others, which dug their nests in the open sand. At the same time, there were a large number of dead pine trees, which provided plenty of food for a wide range of wood-boring beetles, among others. These in turn provided food for many birds, not least woodpeckers. Today, most of the dead trees have fallen and the ground is covered by a thick layer of juniper moss. The sand-dwelling insects have disappeared, but several rare species of wood insects still live in the dead pine trunks. The mysteriously singing nightjar also thrives in gaps in the growing pine forest.

Before your visit

The parking lot at Stora tjärn is one of the starting points for the Brattfors trail. A round trip of just over 2 miles that goes through several of the nature reserves in the area. From the parking lot, a 500 meter long trail leads to the Brattforsleden itself. At the parking lot there is information, two picnic tables and a fireplace.

Less firewood

From 2023, resources have been reduced for the management of the nature reserves, which means that we have reduced the supply of firewood. Since we are now putting out less firewood, it is extra important that you as a visitor burn carefully and bring your own firewood if you want to be sure to be able to grill. Please note that fires may only be lit in the designated fireplaces and that it is forbidden to take dead or live branches from the forest.

Remember that it is forbidden to leave a caravan/mobile home overnight in the entire nature conservation area.

Brattforsleden 24 kilometers, orange marking

The trail is the nature conservation area's large circular loop that goes through four nature reserves.

The trail is varied and passes a number of different sights such as Ångsågen, the old ironworks in Brattfors and Lake Alstern.

Difficulty: Medium to difficult. Most of the trail is medium, but in the Lungälven ravines south of Brattfors there is a section of about 3 kilometers that is difficult.