There is another Sweden that arises when the snow melts and is waiting for you
When summer arrives, Sweden opens to life like a flower in spring. The sun, condemned and confined below the horizon for the rest of the year, takes revenge for its unjust punishment by reigning in the sky for almost twenty-four hours a day.
That's when Sweden becomes a Garden of Eden for lovers of outdoor life and sports.
In the region of Värmland, located in the west-central part of Sweden, Mother Nature has been especially generous and the activity options are almost endless.
Dense ancient forests, glacial lakes and rivers, and infinite green valleys, they confine the human being to live in villages and small cities that seem not to want to spoil such a beautiful landscape.
In order to enjoy all this, you can fly to Karlstad, capital of Värmland and inhabited by only about 60,000 people.
Värmland: Sweden's outdoor sports paradise
If you are going to spend a few hours in the city, **take the opportunity to visit the Värmland Museum** –which will give you a deep insight into the history of the region– and take a bike ride through the large park of Mariebergsskogen.
Cycling along the paths of this park is just a small appetizer of what awaits you the next day, when you ride your mountain bike into Brattforsheden.
Brattforsheden is a protected nature area covering an area of 11,400 hectares. Its forests, dunes and lakes were formed about 9,500 years ago, after the melting of a 400-meter-thick glacier.
a good number of routes suitable for mountain bikes pierce this wild landscape. You can choose the most appropriate to your level, both physical and technical.
Sand, thick roots and rocks will make you have to keep your eyes fixed on the ground, but relax and allow yourself the luxury of stopping at several of the dozens of observation and rest points that you will find. Behind almost every curve there is a postcard landscape.
Mother Nature displays all her might in Brattforsheden
Leave the dry land for the water, so abundant in Värmland, whether in the form of rivers or lakes. Descend the calm waters of the Klarälven River rowing on a raft weighing about 2,000 kg – made of wooden logs – is already an adventure worth telling.
However, best of all, you're going to have to build that raft with your own hands. This is a great team activity that usually has two or three days long. The Swedish family business Vildmark i Värmland owns a campsite on one of the river beaches.
It is there where you will find the big logs stacked and you will receive the help and explanations from the hands of experts to be able to build the enormous raft.
Logs here, ropes there, knots of all kinds, a good dose of coordination combined with the Viking strength of the people who live in these parts and, after a few hours of work and laughter... Voilà!: You have a wooden raft that Huckleberry Finn would have wanted for his adventures on the Mississippi.
Go down the waters of the Klarälven River on a raft made with your own hands!
After spending the night –although it is really only two or three hours of darkness– resting in rustic Swedish cabins, in the early hours of the day the descent of the Klarälven river.
It's a smooth ride, where the raft slides at a speed that varies between 4 and 7 km/h and you just have to be aware of avoiding some eddies of water and not letting the current make you run aground on one of the banks of the longest river in Sweden.
Those shores are lined with tall spruce and other coniferous species, usual in this part of Sweden. If you want to explore these woods more closely, put on some good running shoes. hiking and choose one of the routes that cross these lands.
A good option is the area of Långberget. The Långbergets Sporthotell organizes a number of guided nature activities.
Vildmark i Värmland has a campsite on one of the river beaches where rafts are built
Hiking will allow you to get to know, on foot and up close, these magical forests, but if you want to see the most splendid animal that inhabits them, you must sign up for a moose-watching safari.
Around 10 at night, when the light begins to dim at these latitudes, parts in a jeep with an expert on moose and their customs.
The moose, one of the illustrious inhabitants of the Värmland forest
He will lead you through trails only suitable for 4x4 vehicles until you come face to face with one of these wonderful creatures. Moose weigh up to 600 kg and measure 2 meters in height. Not bad for a species that feeds mainly on grass and small pines.
The males have huge and powerful horns that they renew once a year. The sight of one of these animals silhouetted against the sunset of the Swedish forest is something that you will not easily forget.
With the arrival of summer and the thaw, nature explodes in Sweden
At Långberget, you will also find a system of beautiful lakes that you can paddle across on a canoe. This is one of the best ways to get to know the area at your own pace.
If you like this kind of adventures, load up with supplies for several days, a tent, a sleeping bag and go sailing from lake to lake –they are all connected by narrow canals– until they flow into the waters of the Klarälven River.
There is another Sweden when the snows melt. Both are beautiful in their own way, but the explosion of nature in summer dwarfs the man's figure while enlarging his heart.
Land or water? In Långberget there are options for all tastes!