An Abridged Guide to The Troll Trail:
An Alternate Trail to the Swedish E1 Long Distance Hiking Trail
An Alternate Trail to the Swedish E1 Long Distance Hiking Trail
Version 3.0
By Cesar Valdez
By Cesar Valdez
Note: If you prefer to download a PDF file of this guide, you can do so here.
Foreword
This is a condensed but full guide to The Troll Trail, a long distance hiking trail that I created. The longer, unabridged guide--which includes additional details on the various areas/sections, hundreds of photographs, and trip reports of my personal experiences hiking the trail--can be found on my blog (click here). The goal of this shortened guide is to provide just the most essential information to help hikers plan and hike this trail. What I recommend if you are seriously considering hiking this trail is to read the longer guides and trip reports on my blog while you’re at home preparing, and then on the way to the trail and/or while you’re actually out hiking the trail you can switch over to this shortened guide.
Or if you’re restless and just want to get out there and hike, say you’re an experienced backpacker, etc.--I get it. This guide should be enough on its own and you can read the whole thing in less than an hour, then revisit it on trail as needed. Make sure to download all the custom maps that I created for the connection routes, and have fun being on autopilot most of the time hiking the longer marked trails.
But please be aware that there are many other resources available online that hikers should also take advantage of in addition to this guide. In addition to the custom maps that I created for certain parts of the trail, there are also various other maps to established trails that you can download. Many of these maps I link to on my blog, or you can simply Google the name of the trail or wilderness area (e.g. nature reserves/national parks) to find further information and/or maps if you’re on the go. I will provide some links to the official websites of the larger trails and wilderness areas in this guide.
If you have any questions or feedback related to this trail and/or this guide, especially anyone that is doing or has done a thru-hike of the entire trail, please feel free to contact me via email: cesarvaldeziii at gmail dot com. You can also contact me via my Youtube channel, which is linked on my blog. After completing this guide I plan on uploading a video on my Youtube channel to break the news and provide a link to download this guide. So odds are that you may have found this guide that way, so you can just go back and leave a comment on that specific video, and I’ll try and get back to you when I can.
Please note that this project is and always has been my little labor of love. I have never been sponsored by any private company or organization, and I received no help from the Swedish state or municipalities that this trail goes through. My blog is free of advertisements (and always has been), and I am not a Youtube partner (nor have I ever been). So that means I’ve made no profit at all on either my blog or Youtube channel. I just love to hike, and don’t want to bother anyone reading my blog or watching my videos with any commercials--it’s as simple as that.
I’d like to thank the friends and family members who have supported my efforts, some of which have even hiked the trail along with me and gave me much appreciated encouragement and company. I’d also like to thank the members of the Ultralight backpacking community over on Reddit, who have also given me collective encouragement at the various section hike trip reports and trail guides I have shared on that forum over the years. And special thanks to Emily for her valuable feedback. She’s a thru-hiker that along with her partner are the first known thru-hikers to complete the entire Troll Trail in one trip.
Finally, if you’re reading this that means you have at least some interest in hiking The Troll Trail, a project that I have put literal blood, sweat, and tears into hiking and documenting, along with a fair amount of my freetime and energy. While I naturally did it for my own benefit because I love wilderness backpacking, I also honestly believe in this trail. It’s a good trail and it’s worth hiking, and I think that you should hike it too.
So please get out there and hike it! Not only for your own benefit, but the more people that hike it and the more word of mouth spreads, the more established the trail will become. This may open up new possibilities and improvements to the trail in the future. If enough people get behind this trail and it becomes more well known, eventually the powers that be will have to accept it, mark it, put it on maps, build new trail shelters, repair existing trail shelters, do trail maintenance, etc. And I’d love to see the day that my children and maybe even their children can go out and hike this trail and enjoy it as much or hopefully even more than I did.
Thanks for your support, for reading this, please spread the word, and I wish you happy trails on The Troll Trail!
--Cesar Valdez
Göteborg, Sweden, July 2021
Introduction
The Troll Trail (TT in short, and Trolleden in Swedish) is a long distance hiking route that goes from the city of Göteborg in the south to lake Grövelsjön in the north on the Swedish-Norwegian border. It passes through southwest Sweden, but at times there is the option to go into southeast Norway, and at times it follows close to (or even right on) the border. But the entire trail can be done within Sweden, a detail that was important towards the end of the process of me completing the hiking and documentation of the trail during the Covid-19 pandemic.
It is approximately 1,135km/705mi long, and there are several side trails, loops, and optional parts away from the main route that are not included in that total.
The TT can be hiked as an alternative section of the E1 European long distance hiking route to walk through Sweden, rather than the official Swedish E1 route. You can read more about the official E1 route in my guide to it here. I created the TT as a direct result of hiking the entire Swedish E1. While I enjoyed this route overall, there were some problems with several sections, which you can read more about on my guide and trip reports of it.
But the shortcomings of the official Swedish E1 trail were not my only motivation in putting together this trail. After many years hiking in the areas that the TT goes through, I really fell in love with the nature and terrain of places like Bohuslän, Dalsland, and Värmland. I discovered more obscure nature reserves and woodland trails that not as many hikers travel to, or even know exist. Yet other established and well known hiking trails were not that far away. The more I hiked and explored these areas, the more a new route made sense.
A few new trails would have to be made to connect certain areas, so I decided to do just that with some initial exploration trips, and these first connection routes worked. So after that I decided to begin the long term project of creating this trail. But while there are some new paths to hike on this trail, the majority of the TT is made up of marked and generally well maintained long distance hiking paths from south-west to central Sweden through the counties of Västra Götaland, Värmland, and Dalarna.
The TT is divided into seven sections. I recommend that thru-hikes or long section hikes of the TT go NOBO for practical reasons based on elevation, climate, and seasonal timing. In short, the northern part of the trail has higher elevation and is also further north, both of which make it generally colder. Most people take time off work or school for thru-hikes and long section hikers in the spring or summer, which works great for NOBO hikes of the TT. A SOBO hike is of course possible but more challenging during these seasons. But if you’re a rare one that has time off to hike in the late summer and early fall, then a SOBO thru-hike could work quite well.
Click here for a general overview map of the trail, from south to north, and feel free to download this and the rest of the custom PDF maps I created. The trail is highlighted in pink, but please keep in mind that it is a very rough sketch of where the trail is. It’s not perfect, and there are some alternate routes, side trails, and loops that are not included. So these maps are not intended for navigation, but instead general planning and a bird’s eye view of the entire trail. Highlighted with red circles are resupply points (i.e. supermarkets) that I am aware of, but keep in mind that these can change. Supermarkets are private businesses, and can close down. But that being said, many of these supermarkets are important for locals, especially in isolated areas, and in general the chances of them closing down anytime soon I’d say are fairly low.
And if you want a large
overview map in one picture that shows roughly where the trail is
located in relation to Scandinavia, you can check out the Sweden overview map here.
If you plan on hiking in Sweden and have never done so before, I recommend that you check out my crash course on backpacking in Sweden here with lots of good general info and tips. But I will give some quick general advice below on some important issues that I think shouldn’t be overlooked.
Water is plentiful on the whole trail, but of course I recommend taking some kind of water treatment, as water sources in much of Sweden are not as pristine as in the far north or up in the fjälls. I also recommend not hauling more than two liters of water while hiking due to the amount of water sources. Most of the time I carry 1.5 liters of water while hiking the TT, but of course exercise caution and common sense given any changes in conditions. Dry spells and droughts, while rare in Scandinavia, can and have happened.
If you hike the TT from roughly mid-spring to early autumn, and especially in July and early August, make sure to prepare yourself for swarms of various types of biting/stinging insects. These include ticks, wasps, ants, bees, mosquitoes, horseflies, deer flies, and perhaps worst of all at the height of summer: midges/noseeums. I’ve even been bitten/stung by bugs that I don’t even know what they are called in English or Swedish. I suggest hiking in pants (even in the summer), have a head-net and bug spray, and pack a fully enclosed shelter.
Make sure that your head-net and shelter have proper fine netting that will keep out those damn tiny midges/noseeums. Not all netting is the same, and even here in Sweden shops still sell the “wrong” kind of netting that has holes that are too large and will let in midges/noseeums and other tiny bugs. I go into more detail on other potential hazards and dangers in my text on hiking in Sweden, which is linked above. But in a nutshell, you don’t really have to worry about bears, wolves, boars, moose, etc. You probably won’t see any bears or wolves, and in the rare event that you do, they can probably be scared away. You will probably see boars and moose, but you can probably scare them away too. Google some basic info on what to do when you encounter these animals. But don’t listen to your paranoid aunt, uncle, and/or friend: it’s safe to hike in Sweden and the animals are not a realistic threat.
There are some great navigation/map apps you can download to use on your phone for the entire TT, and I highly recommend that you do. I use two free apps: Landmäteriets My Maps, and the “Lokalsinne” app (search for it in your app store of choice).
Now to jump into the guides for each section of the TT, starting from the southern terminus in Göteborg and heading north towards the northern terminus in Grövelsjön.
Section One: Göteborg, 0km
I am including this city as its own section for a few reasons. One is that it is worth exploring. You can hike through the city to get to the beginning of the trail however you’d like, and there are plenty of things to take advantage of while you are here. It's Sweden's second biggest city, and it’s a really cool place. There are lots of nice aspects of this city, but I will stick to the ones that are the most relevant for backpackers.
The official E1 trail starts in the small city of Varberg to the south. And honestly, having hiked the trail from Varberg to Göteborg, I wasn't very impressed with that stretch of trail. Which is why I skipped it entirely in planning the TT. Not to mention that if you are doing a thru-hike of the entire European E1 trails (going northbound from Denmark or southbound from Norway), it's probably more convenient and fun to have Göteborg as your first or last stop in Sweden.
Göteborg has an airport, a big train station with connections all over Scandinavia, and you can also catch a ferry over to or from Denmark (as well as other places). So if you are thru-hiking the European E1, rather than taking the ferry from Varberg to or from Grenå, Denmark, you sail to or from Frederikshavn, Denmark--and you also get to see a bit more of Denmark in the process as an added traveler's bonus. I highly recommend taking a zero day or two in Göteborg before you leave, though!
Right in center city there are camping and sporting goods stores, just ask around or Google it. Naturkomaniet is going to have more expensive, high end gear that is mostly traditional (i.e. heavier) backpacking kit. However, ultralight backpacking has recently started to catch on a bit more here in Sweden, but most backpackers are of the more traditional heavy hauler type. But there is one niche UL gear shop that sells a fair amount of USA UL brand gear (e.g. Gossamer Gear, Six Moon Designs, Thermarest, MSR, etc.), which is Fjällsport, and it's located in the city center.
There are cheaper places to buy basic/common types of gear, especially clothing, like at Intersport or Stadium sporting goods stores. But if you are just looking for food and fuel, well there are plenty of supermarkets and restaurants for eats, but you can find Esbit, gas canisters, and alcohol at Naturkomaniet and Fjällsport, or at hardware stores called Clas Ohlson (and usually cheaper there, but not all of these shops carry Esbit).
And finally, there are lots of nice pubs around, and some of my favorites you'll find around Järntorget down the side street of Andra Långgatan. Some of these pubs have all you can eat but rather simple buffets that are free or cheap so long as you buy a drink.
Finding the TT in Göteborg is easy. An entry point to start northbound on Bohusleden can be found at various parts of the city and its suburbs, but the Skatås trailhead is perhaps the most accessible (close to Kjellberg park, which you can find here), which is why I chose it as the southern terminus for the TT. It's about 5km from the Centralstation train station and makes for a nice city walk, with parks and canals along the way. Or you can catch the number 5 tram just outside of the central train station and get off at the Welandergatan stop, then it's just down the road to the east, less than a kilometer away.
Section Two: Bohusleden, ~270km
This section of TT goes from stage 3 (Skatås trailhead) to stage 22 (Nornäs trailhead) of the long trail Bohusleden. This trail is generally well marked and is an old and well known trail, used by locals for day hikes and section/thru hikers alike fairly regularly (by Swedish standards). There are a variety of shelters on the trail and plenty of resupply points too. Once you get hiking on this trail, you should be more or less on autopilot following the markers with ease for the majority of the trail. You should definitely check out the official website for this trail, which has a lot of good resources like maps and such.
But here is a quick and dirty summary and breakdown of how I suggest you hike this section (going northbound). I divide the trail into three big parts: the north, middle, and south. In a nutshell, the northern third of the trail is very woodsy, more isolated, less people, and has more of an "adventure" type feel. The middle third of the trail is still quite woodsy but with a mix of rural and small town/city society, more people, and a mix of adventure and comfort. The southern third is not as woodsy, but when it is woodsy it can surprise you, has lots of people and the trail atmosphere is more social, and it hardly feels like an adventure but more like a very long walk in a huge park.
Hike from Skatås until the town of Bohus, where you can stop and resupply at the supermarket in the center of town (right near the train station). From Bohus take a bus (skipping a bunch of asphalt walking) to the Eriksdal bus stop across the river. Continue hiking north and consider taking a half or a full day to explore stages 8 and 9, which go through the Svartedalen nature reserve that has several side trails/loops.
Continue on to the end of stage 12 where you can catch a bus to the city of Uddevalla to resupply, grab some fast food, and then take a bus back to the trail. If you plan carefully enough and don’t waste much time, you can resupply, eat a quick meal, and hop on the bus back to the trail using the same ticket to save a bit of time and money.
Keep hiking and then towards the end of stage 16 leave the trail to stop in the small town of Dingle to resupply and maybe grab a pizza. While you are in Dingle either catch a bus or hitchhike to the bus stop Suttene, skipping stages 17 and 18 (which are mostly hiking on asphalt). Hike about 5km east to find the trail again and continue north.
Hike on until stage 22, where you will leave Bohusleden at the Nornäs trailhead by hiking east, which brings us to the next section of the TT.
Section Three: Dalsland, ~160km
First of all, make sure to check out these six PDF maps I put together with the route connecting Bohusleden to Pilgrimsleden Dalsland. Note that this route is not marked and at times you are bushwhacking/going off trail, so a compass and map are of course highly recommended. I call this route the Dalsland Connection Route or DCR, and while hiking it you can stop in the town of Ed to resupply and there are also a few restaurants and hotels/B&Bs if you want.
But there are other fun things to do in Ed. You can also rent canoes in town by the shores of the huge lake Stora Le, and there is also an optional loop you can do to Tresticklan National Park, which I recommend and wrote more about here.
Once you make it to Pilgrimsleden Dalsland, you can again go on autopilot for a bit as you follow this trail north towards the next Swedish county, which is Värmland. At first Pilgrimsleden Värmland is not as clearly marked as it could be, so after you cross the border into Värmland (past Edleskog) make sure to check your maps and look out for trail markers carefully. But before you cross the border I recommend that you explore the nature reserve in the Edleskog area (on the east side of the big lake), which is very scenic, has some nice spots for swimming. and also has a few trail shelters (including one cabin with a wood stove). The next two sections go through Värmland, and things will become more isolated, rural, and woodsy the further into this county that you hike.
Section Four: Southern Värmland, ~210km
This section follows Pilgrimsleden Värmland, goes through the Glaskogen nature reserve, goes back onto the Pilgrimsleden, takes a turn onto a more challenging trail called Kyrkleden, and then ends in the small city of Charlottenberg. Not too long after entering into Värmland in the south, the trail passes the E18 highway. There are small supermarkets both to the east and west on this highway, so you can hike, hitchhike, or take a bus either way to resupply.
The best way to describe Glaskogen nature reserve I think is a “choose your own adventure” hike. The reserve has various trails that weave all around it. But whichever way you choose, make sure to end up in the village of Älgå, which is on Pilgrimsleden Värmland. You can catch a bus in Älgå to either jump ahead to the next village of Sulvik, or just hike or hitchhike there, and the bus also goes to the small city of Arvika.
Sulvik has a supermarket you can resupply at and continue to hike TT right away, or you can take a zero or nero day in Arvika, which is a charming little lakeside city. Arvika has pubs, restaurants, hotels/B&Bs, sporting goods stores, etc. to take advantage of if you need, and you can catch a bus right back to the trail in Sulvik and hike on afterwards.
Hiking from Sulvik the trail passes through another village called Koppom to the west, then loops north and intersects with the short Kyrkleden trail, which goes east to the town of Charlottenberg. Hiking on Kyrkleden you will have to be alert for areas that are poorly marked at times, but it’s a pretty and fairly isolated area that has a few good trail shelters along the way. It’s just an 8km hike on backwoods roads and local trails to Charlottenberg from the end of Kyrkleden on top of a ski slope.
Charlottenberg marks the beginning of the next section of the TT as you enter northern Värmland. This is also another resupply point, and also has some restaurants and cafes, plus train and bus connections. The local public library is also a good (and free) place to hang out, charge your phone, and/or fill up on tap water before hitting the trail.
If you plan on hiking in Sweden and have never done so before, I recommend that you check out my crash course on backpacking in Sweden here with lots of good general info and tips. But I will give some quick general advice below on some important issues that I think shouldn’t be overlooked.
Water is plentiful on the whole trail, but of course I recommend taking some kind of water treatment, as water sources in much of Sweden are not as pristine as in the far north or up in the fjälls. I also recommend not hauling more than two liters of water while hiking due to the amount of water sources. Most of the time I carry 1.5 liters of water while hiking the TT, but of course exercise caution and common sense given any changes in conditions. Dry spells and droughts, while rare in Scandinavia, can and have happened.
If you hike the TT from roughly mid-spring to early autumn, and especially in July and early August, make sure to prepare yourself for swarms of various types of biting/stinging insects. These include ticks, wasps, ants, bees, mosquitoes, horseflies, deer flies, and perhaps worst of all at the height of summer: midges/noseeums. I’ve even been bitten/stung by bugs that I don’t even know what they are called in English or Swedish. I suggest hiking in pants (even in the summer), have a head-net and bug spray, and pack a fully enclosed shelter.
Make sure that your head-net and shelter have proper fine netting that will keep out those damn tiny midges/noseeums. Not all netting is the same, and even here in Sweden shops still sell the “wrong” kind of netting that has holes that are too large and will let in midges/noseeums and other tiny bugs. I go into more detail on other potential hazards and dangers in my text on hiking in Sweden, which is linked above. But in a nutshell, you don’t really have to worry about bears, wolves, boars, moose, etc. You probably won’t see any bears or wolves, and in the rare event that you do, they can probably be scared away. You will probably see boars and moose, but you can probably scare them away too. Google some basic info on what to do when you encounter these animals. But don’t listen to your paranoid aunt, uncle, and/or friend: it’s safe to hike in Sweden and the animals are not a realistic threat.
There are some great navigation/map apps you can download to use on your phone for the entire TT, and I highly recommend that you do. I use two free apps: Landmäteriets My Maps, and the “Lokalsinne” app (search for it in your app store of choice).
Now to jump into the guides for each section of the TT, starting from the southern terminus in Göteborg and heading north towards the northern terminus in Grövelsjön.
Section One: Göteborg, 0km
I am including this city as its own section for a few reasons. One is that it is worth exploring. You can hike through the city to get to the beginning of the trail however you’d like, and there are plenty of things to take advantage of while you are here. It's Sweden's second biggest city, and it’s a really cool place. There are lots of nice aspects of this city, but I will stick to the ones that are the most relevant for backpackers.
The official E1 trail starts in the small city of Varberg to the south. And honestly, having hiked the trail from Varberg to Göteborg, I wasn't very impressed with that stretch of trail. Which is why I skipped it entirely in planning the TT. Not to mention that if you are doing a thru-hike of the entire European E1 trails (going northbound from Denmark or southbound from Norway), it's probably more convenient and fun to have Göteborg as your first or last stop in Sweden.
Göteborg has an airport, a big train station with connections all over Scandinavia, and you can also catch a ferry over to or from Denmark (as well as other places). So if you are thru-hiking the European E1, rather than taking the ferry from Varberg to or from Grenå, Denmark, you sail to or from Frederikshavn, Denmark--and you also get to see a bit more of Denmark in the process as an added traveler's bonus. I highly recommend taking a zero day or two in Göteborg before you leave, though!
Right in center city there are camping and sporting goods stores, just ask around or Google it. Naturkomaniet is going to have more expensive, high end gear that is mostly traditional (i.e. heavier) backpacking kit. However, ultralight backpacking has recently started to catch on a bit more here in Sweden, but most backpackers are of the more traditional heavy hauler type. But there is one niche UL gear shop that sells a fair amount of USA UL brand gear (e.g. Gossamer Gear, Six Moon Designs, Thermarest, MSR, etc.), which is Fjällsport, and it's located in the city center.
There are cheaper places to buy basic/common types of gear, especially clothing, like at Intersport or Stadium sporting goods stores. But if you are just looking for food and fuel, well there are plenty of supermarkets and restaurants for eats, but you can find Esbit, gas canisters, and alcohol at Naturkomaniet and Fjällsport, or at hardware stores called Clas Ohlson (and usually cheaper there, but not all of these shops carry Esbit).
And finally, there are lots of nice pubs around, and some of my favorites you'll find around Järntorget down the side street of Andra Långgatan. Some of these pubs have all you can eat but rather simple buffets that are free or cheap so long as you buy a drink.
Finding the TT in Göteborg is easy. An entry point to start northbound on Bohusleden can be found at various parts of the city and its suburbs, but the Skatås trailhead is perhaps the most accessible (close to Kjellberg park, which you can find here), which is why I chose it as the southern terminus for the TT. It's about 5km from the Centralstation train station and makes for a nice city walk, with parks and canals along the way. Or you can catch the number 5 tram just outside of the central train station and get off at the Welandergatan stop, then it's just down the road to the east, less than a kilometer away.
Section Two: Bohusleden, ~270km
This section of TT goes from stage 3 (Skatås trailhead) to stage 22 (Nornäs trailhead) of the long trail Bohusleden. This trail is generally well marked and is an old and well known trail, used by locals for day hikes and section/thru hikers alike fairly regularly (by Swedish standards). There are a variety of shelters on the trail and plenty of resupply points too. Once you get hiking on this trail, you should be more or less on autopilot following the markers with ease for the majority of the trail. You should definitely check out the official website for this trail, which has a lot of good resources like maps and such.
But here is a quick and dirty summary and breakdown of how I suggest you hike this section (going northbound). I divide the trail into three big parts: the north, middle, and south. In a nutshell, the northern third of the trail is very woodsy, more isolated, less people, and has more of an "adventure" type feel. The middle third of the trail is still quite woodsy but with a mix of rural and small town/city society, more people, and a mix of adventure and comfort. The southern third is not as woodsy, but when it is woodsy it can surprise you, has lots of people and the trail atmosphere is more social, and it hardly feels like an adventure but more like a very long walk in a huge park.
Hike from Skatås until the town of Bohus, where you can stop and resupply at the supermarket in the center of town (right near the train station). From Bohus take a bus (skipping a bunch of asphalt walking) to the Eriksdal bus stop across the river. Continue hiking north and consider taking a half or a full day to explore stages 8 and 9, which go through the Svartedalen nature reserve that has several side trails/loops.
Continue on to the end of stage 12 where you can catch a bus to the city of Uddevalla to resupply, grab some fast food, and then take a bus back to the trail. If you plan carefully enough and don’t waste much time, you can resupply, eat a quick meal, and hop on the bus back to the trail using the same ticket to save a bit of time and money.
Keep hiking and then towards the end of stage 16 leave the trail to stop in the small town of Dingle to resupply and maybe grab a pizza. While you are in Dingle either catch a bus or hitchhike to the bus stop Suttene, skipping stages 17 and 18 (which are mostly hiking on asphalt). Hike about 5km east to find the trail again and continue north.
Hike on until stage 22, where you will leave Bohusleden at the Nornäs trailhead by hiking east, which brings us to the next section of the TT.
Section Three: Dalsland, ~160km
First of all, make sure to check out these six PDF maps I put together with the route connecting Bohusleden to Pilgrimsleden Dalsland. Note that this route is not marked and at times you are bushwhacking/going off trail, so a compass and map are of course highly recommended. I call this route the Dalsland Connection Route or DCR, and while hiking it you can stop in the town of Ed to resupply and there are also a few restaurants and hotels/B&Bs if you want.
But there are other fun things to do in Ed. You can also rent canoes in town by the shores of the huge lake Stora Le, and there is also an optional loop you can do to Tresticklan National Park, which I recommend and wrote more about here.
Once you make it to Pilgrimsleden Dalsland, you can again go on autopilot for a bit as you follow this trail north towards the next Swedish county, which is Värmland. At first Pilgrimsleden Värmland is not as clearly marked as it could be, so after you cross the border into Värmland (past Edleskog) make sure to check your maps and look out for trail markers carefully. But before you cross the border I recommend that you explore the nature reserve in the Edleskog area (on the east side of the big lake), which is very scenic, has some nice spots for swimming. and also has a few trail shelters (including one cabin with a wood stove). The next two sections go through Värmland, and things will become more isolated, rural, and woodsy the further into this county that you hike.
Section Four: Southern Värmland, ~210km
This section follows Pilgrimsleden Värmland, goes through the Glaskogen nature reserve, goes back onto the Pilgrimsleden, takes a turn onto a more challenging trail called Kyrkleden, and then ends in the small city of Charlottenberg. Not too long after entering into Värmland in the south, the trail passes the E18 highway. There are small supermarkets both to the east and west on this highway, so you can hike, hitchhike, or take a bus either way to resupply.
The best way to describe Glaskogen nature reserve I think is a “choose your own adventure” hike. The reserve has various trails that weave all around it. But whichever way you choose, make sure to end up in the village of Älgå, which is on Pilgrimsleden Värmland. You can catch a bus in Älgå to either jump ahead to the next village of Sulvik, or just hike or hitchhike there, and the bus also goes to the small city of Arvika.
Sulvik has a supermarket you can resupply at and continue to hike TT right away, or you can take a zero or nero day in Arvika, which is a charming little lakeside city. Arvika has pubs, restaurants, hotels/B&Bs, sporting goods stores, etc. to take advantage of if you need, and you can catch a bus right back to the trail in Sulvik and hike on afterwards.
Hiking from Sulvik the trail passes through another village called Koppom to the west, then loops north and intersects with the short Kyrkleden trail, which goes east to the town of Charlottenberg. Hiking on Kyrkleden you will have to be alert for areas that are poorly marked at times, but it’s a pretty and fairly isolated area that has a few good trail shelters along the way. It’s just an 8km hike on backwoods roads and local trails to Charlottenberg from the end of Kyrkleden on top of a ski slope.
Charlottenberg marks the beginning of the next section of the TT as you enter northern Värmland. This is also another resupply point, and also has some restaurants and cafes, plus train and bus connections. The local public library is also a good (and free) place to hang out, charge your phone, and/or fill up on tap water before hitting the trail.
Section Five: Northern Värmland, ~150km
Shortly after hiking out of Charlottenberg the next goal is to get onto another long trail, Finnskogleden, which also has its own website (but only in Norwegian). You can choose to hike only in Sweden and find your way on the Swedish side, but this route is often not marked, so you will have to get creative with your map and some minor bushwhacking and/or backcountry roads. Or you can follow the official marked trail that weaves in and out of Norway the entire way to the large lake Röjden. This body of water rests in both Sweden and Norway, the border going right across the lake.
Not long after passing lake Röjden and hiking back into the hills, there is an excellent campsite complete with a big, really nice cabin at the Abborrtjärnsberg nature reserve. This is where the TT leaves Finnskogleden and follows a combination of local trails (mostly another isolated trail called Nyskogaleden) and backwoods roads, along with a short bit of bushwhacking. Here are maps I created of this route, which I call the Värmland Connection Route or VCR.
If you carefully read the TT overview maps, you will notice that it is possible to continue hiking further north on Finnskogleden before hiking east across the Klarälven river. But I would recommend taking the VCR to not only have more resupply and zero day options, but also to be able to hike the entire Nordvärmlandsleden, which is a good trail. The VCR is also a really beautiful hike, though at times it can be challenging. This route will take you to the small village of Ransby, which marks the end of this section. There are a few small restaurants and a hotel in addition to a few small supermarkets in the Ransby area.
Section Six: Nordvärmlandsleden and Connecting to Sälen, ~125km
The next trail the TT follows is a 55km marked trail that goes from Ransby in the south to another small village in the north called Höljes. Nordvärmlandsleden is generally well marked and has some nice views as it traverses up and down the peaks and ridges of the Klarälven river valley. It even goes up to Värmland’s highest point, a small mountain called Granberget, 700m above sea level. There is also a really cool lookout tower built on its peak.
However there are also several bogs and tough elevation gains that you’ll have to slog through to earn these nice views. And while there are some trail shelters along the way, they are not remarkable and you may be better off sleeping in your shelter. This presents another complication, as due to the steep and rocky terrain, it can be a challenge to find flat, soft spots to make camp. At both villages at each end of this trail there are options to take a zero day if needed. Ransby has a B&B and Höljes has a campground with cabins. And oddly in the middle of the trail there is a hotel at Långberget, which also has a restaurant and small shop. There are also resupply options at each end of the trail.
Hiking past Höljes there are some options on how to reach the next goal of the TT, which is the small village of Rörbäcksnäs. This village has a supermarket and a hotel. You can check out maps I created for the Fjäll Connection Route or FCR here, which is the next part of this section going from Höljes to Rörbäcksnäs, and then to the Sälen ski villages. The FCR is pretty much only for thru-hikers looking to connect to the next long trail of the TT. If you’re a section hiker or don’t feel like hiking mostly backwoods gravel roads and/or asphalt roads, I would suggest skipping this route via hitchhiking or buses from Höljes to Sälen. Otherwise it’s roughly 60km from Höljes to the beginning of the Sälen ski villages at Hundfjället if you take the longer, backwoods road route. This is the route I included in the grand total of the TT. Or it’s about 40km if you take the direct route.
If you are committed to hiking to Sälen, hike north from Höljes on a gravel road until you reach the Havsvallen river, which is a key landmark of the FCR. At this river there is also a nature reserve. For the direct route, hike west until you intersect with the huge lake Höljessjön, then turn north. You’ll be on another backwoods road going north for a while that gets close to the Norwegian border, then hike east on a dirt road for a short bit (around Skepparberget) until you get to another road headed north-ish. Finally just follow that until you get to the small highway that goes directly to the village of Rörbäcksnäs.
Or if you want a longer and more woodsy, backwoods road and a short unmarked trail hike, then after crossing the Havsvallen river turn east (instead of west for the direct route) and follow the winding dirt/gravel lumber roads. You'll eventually find an unmarked trail at the small mountain Storhögen that heads north to another dirt road that then goes pretty much straight to Rörbäcksnäs. This should all make sense if you study the above FCR maps.
From Rörbäcksnäs to the next long trail called Södra Kungsleden is pretty straight forward, regardless of which of the two paths you can take to get there. There are backwoods roads to follow that get you to the next marked alpine trails at the foot of the fjäll. And again you are presented with some options on how to continue the TT from there. Once you get to the Skogsätern area you will soon have to make one of three choices.
You can hike straight up the Hundfjället mountain headed roughly northeast to the ski village named after the mountain at the top, then follow the road east to the Södra Kungsleden trailhead. Or you can hike around the west side of the mountain by heading north-ish and then east to the ski village. And lastly you can hike along the south side of the mountain going east-ish to the next valley. At this valley you can then hike north, continuing to follow the marked alpine trail, which will eventually take you directly to the next trailhead.
This alpine area is generally considered to all be a part of Sälen, but the village of Sälen itself is further to the east in the next large river valley on the banks of Västerdalälven. And along this alpine road (local highway 66) that runs close to Rörbäcksnäs and then all the way to the village of Sälen, there are a string of small ski villages and hamlets. There are plenty of shops, restaurants, hotels, and bus stops in this ski resort area. There’s even a Burger King, McDonald’s, and O’Leary’s up there!
However not only are these more active during ski season (i.e. expect things to be closed or have limited hours in the off season), but things will also be more expensive, especially hotels. But there are also several free trail shelters scattered throughout the network of hiking trails in this area. So it’s possible to have an affordable or even free zero or nero day in this ski village area up in the mountains. Otherwise, there are cheaper B&Bs in the village of Sälen itself, away from the fancy ski resort hamlets in the fjäll. Walking directly through the ski village area from Hundfjället to the next section (close to Sälens fjällkyrka) is only 10km.
Section Seven: Södra Kungsleden, ~220 km
Here is an official document of this trail (in English) with information and a general overview map on the next and last trail that the TT follows. There used to be an official website for this trail, but it seems to no longer exist. The official document on the trail also switched locations and was harder to find when I was updating my main guide for the TT. So just in case, here’s a backup copy of the official PDF on Södra Kungsleden.
This is perhaps my favorite section of the trail. Much of it is alpine/fjäll terrain, which offers stunning views and unique areas. This is also the section that has the best quality water to drink, a lot of which you can drink directly from the source, but again exercise caution and common sense when drinking untreated water. But the views and mountains again come with the cost of additional challenges, naturally. The hiking is more strenuous going up and down mountains rather than hills, then there are micro-climates in mountains to deal with, plus the trail itself has longer stretches of hard stone to hike on rather than soft forest floors.
Also because of the vastness of this terrain that at times lacks easier landmarks to navigate, you will need to pay closer attention to the trail to stick with it, especially if you are a less experienced backpacker. I’m fairly experienced and took a few wrong turns up in the fjäll due to some areas looking very uniform all around, for example. But most of the time the trail is well marked, with some exceptions. On the other hand, smaller side trails and unmarked trails that intersect with Södra Kungsleden on various maps I used on hikes there were often poorly marked, not marked at all, and on a few occasions with unmarked trails, seemed not to exist at all. So be careful if you plan to do any off-trail exploring or want to take shortcuts and/or alternate routes based on what the map tells you.
This route is also pretty isolated, so resupplying might be the most difficult here, and public transportation is limited or non-existent. Look to stock up a lot in Sälen, either in the ski hamlets or the village. There is a hamlet called Mörkret roughly halfway through this section (and only about 4km off trail) that has a nice hostel that I’ve stayed at a few times and had good experiences with. The hostel was able to pick my friends and I up from the village of Särna for a small fee, so you may be able to work out a ride there for supplies if needed. And it’s a good place to take a zero day. Otherwise it’s a 23km hike on asphalt to Särna, and not much traffic there makes for a hard time hitchhiking.
There is a resupply option toward the end of this section in the hamlet of Flötningen, which has a small supermarket. A few kilometers across the border in Norway there was (and hopefully there still is) a nice little place that rents out cabins, and the owner of the small supermarket in Flötningen offered to rent us a spare room above the supermarket. There are also buses that can get you to the small town of Idre, where there are more resupply and hotel options. But the buses don’t run often (you may even have to call and book them in advance), and it’s roughly 35km away.
At the end of the trail there are a few hostels and an expensive convenience store at the Grövelsjön mountain station. And there at the lovely shores of lake Grövelsjön is the southern terminus of both the TT and the official Swedish E1 trail. I highly recommend if you have the time to explore the area and do a loop around the fjälls. There are more regular buses from Grövelsjön back towards civilization, and if you’re an E1 thru-hiker you can continue on into Norway to finish your entire E1 adventure.
While I did mention that this section is isolated, there are times when there will be an influx of section hikers and day hikers on the trail. This is due to the popularity of both Fulufjället national park and the Grövelsjön area in general. Fulufjället boasts the highest waterfall in Sweden, which the trail goes right by; and Grövelsjön has a conflux of several hiking trails, Töfsingdalen national park, several nature reserves, and a ferry across lake Grövelsjön that goes into Norway.
But for much of the rest of the trail, there will be little to no people. Which is also good for taking advantage of the various wonderful trail shelters in this section. This section by far has the nicest collection of trail shelters on the entire TT (or official E1 for that matter), including several full on cabins. These cabins often feature bunk beds, a wood stove, tables, chairs, firewood, springs nearby--the works. But the cabins closer to the popular spots will probably be full or half full pretty much every day during the summer.
Afterword
If you are a E1 thru-hiker you can continue your hike northbound into Norway after Grövelsjön, or southbound into Denmark after arriving in Göteborg. If you are a section hiker, I suggest you take the time to also look into the various side trails and other outdoors activities that each of the seven sections of the TT have to offer. Throughout each section there are many extra things that you can get out of a long section hike.
But thru-hiker or section hiker alike, a reminder to please let me know how your adventure on the TT went! Feedback will help me to update this condensed guide and the full guides in the future, which I hope to maintain indefinitely so that this information continues to be relevant. Contact me via email at cesarvaldeziii at gmail dot com, or if you found this guide via my Youtube channel, leave a comment on the video where I link to this guide. I also intend to one day do a full thru-hike of the trail, re-hiking everything to not only again enjoy everything the TT has to offer, but also to do a thorough update of my guides.
The TT was also completed doing section hikes, as work and family responsibilities prevented me from doing any thru-hikes. But eventually in the summer of 2021 I did my last section hike of the TT, and wrote this guide shortly after. I hope that if you’ve hiked the TT that this guide was helpful and that you enjoyed yourself out there. I wish you safe travels back home, wherever that may be, and happy trails on your next hiking adventure. Peace!
