Hiking in Sweden – The Jämtland Triangle

One of the Best Trails for Hiking in Sweden

The transfer from the train station immediately provides a glimpse of what lies ahead. The surrounding mountains enclose us as the road winds its way through and the Sylarna summit occasionally peeks through along the way. The road comes to an abrupt end at the Storulvåns mountain station, where numerous routes fan out over the surrounding countryside. The station is nestled in the mountain birch forests with the open mountainous landscape, like a crown, overhead. It’s the meeting place where hikers heading out meet those returning, with relaxed expressions and a sparkle in their eyes. It’s the perfect place to load up with a crunchy waffle topped with generous servings of cloudberry jam or tuck into the generous lunch buffet.  

The start of the walk begins with a gentle climb through the birch forests, along well marked paths. The trail leads counterclockwise and heads towards the first nights goal, Blåhammaren, which lies approximately 12km away. The trail twists and meanders its way in the countryside and opens out to the plateau, a place where hikers, runner, cyclists and the gentle nomads of the mountains, the reindeer converge. The area is reindeer territory and we are visitors in their territory. It is almost a guarantee to encounter these gentle beasts in their tones of brown, gray and even white along in the mountainside. We show them respect by not trying to get close just to take a good shot. All reindeer are the property of sami companies, but they are still wild animals and need their privacy to grace and feed their calves in peace.

Hiking in Sweden = Gastronomic Discoveries

The halfway point on day one is a wind shelter at Ulvåtjärn, situated beside the clear waters of the Stor-Ulvån stream. It’s the perfect place to recover and take in the warmth from the sun or shelter from the wind if the weather turns foul. A hike in the Swedish mountains almost always means encounters with at least a handful of the many wild animals thriving in the serene nature. The area around the Jämtland Triangle is well known for its bird life, with regular sightings of Long-tailed Skuas, the Rough-Legged Buzzards and the majestic Golden Eagle, often seen soaring on the thermals overhead.

The Blåhammaren mountain station is the next goal on the hike. We head up a long hill, interspersed with plenty of breaks along a multitude of small brooks trickling downhill. The red Blåhammaren mountain station is the highest located STF Mountain station in Sweden, at 1,086 meters above sea level, and the reward is well worth the sweaty climb. Panoramic views, a sauna and you can buy ingredients for a meal to prepare in the self catering kitchen on site (from 2024). Enjoy an evening coffee outside, taking in the red glow of the evening sun glistening off the surrounding tarns and lakes. This is everything that hiking in the Swedish mountains is meant to be, stillness, freedom, wildness.

Sylarna’s Summit – 1762 metres above sea level

The next morning welcomes the lengthiest walk of the trip, starting with a long and gentle uphill over exposed and open mountainside. The views vary along the hike, from the neighbouring Norwegian mountains in the west to the vast expanse of the azure coloured Essandsjøen lake. The path from the first wind shelter at Enkälen continues to climb in altitude, towards the pointed summit of Sylarna, with its highest peak on the Norwegian side, at 1,762 metres above sea level. The summit is a majestic giant that has attracted climbers and hikers since the first STF shelter was built in 1890 and could host 8 people. The tiny hut was replaced by a mountain station called Syltoppsvillan already in 1897, could host 18 people and had a restaurant. The family who served the station kept animals to be able to provide guests with milk and fresh eggs. This mountain station was again replaced in the 1933 and the new mountain station was up to three stories high with a restaurant and a dance floor. In 1980 there was a large fire and the mountain station was rebuilt into todays station in 1983. 

The  Sylarna mountain station has a small shop selling basic food items to prepare in the self catering kitchen on site. The Spiseriet restaurant opened in 2018 specialising in tasty stews on locally produced foods. All stews are lactose and gluten free and there is always a vegetarian alternative. This restaurant will close at the latest by 2028 due to an agreement with the Sami to reduce the number of hikers in the area and give the reindeer more freedom to roam. Even after closure there will be possibilities to purchase food items, or bring your own, to prepare in the self catering kitchen.

The reductions in available beds at Blåhammaren, the closing of the restaurant at Blåhammaren in 2023 and the coming closure of the restaurants at Sylarna and Helags mountain stations are made in accordance with the agreement that STF (The Swedish Tourism Association) made with three of the Sami villages in Jämtland Härjedalen – in order to reduce the pressure from the increasing number of visitors in the area. The background is the agreement with the County Administrative Board in Jämtland that gives STF the right to dispose of the state-owned land on which almost all of the association’s mountain facilities stand. The land is also reindeer pasture that the Sami villages have the right to use for reindeer herding by law.
Make sure you book your stay well in advance if you intend to stay at the stations. There is no need to book a space for a tent.

There is a choice of two saunas at Sylarna, one at the station and the other, a wood fired sauna, down by the Sylälven stream. A perfect way to treat your body after a day of hiking in Sweden. The darkness associated with the late summer and autumn nights in the end of August into September offer the chance to witness the stars that appear over the heavens, a magnificent backdrop silhouetted by the silent Sylarna summit.

Hiking Back to Storulvån Mountain Station

The final day of hiking begins with a descent and continues over undulating terrain. The trail offers respite from wind at shelters just 2 km from the mountain station at Gamla Sylarna and at Spåime, the later serves roughly as the halfway point. Both of them have outhouses. The well-used pathway have large parts covered with footbridges to protect the sensitive flora (keep to the pathways as well as you can) and continues its way past the Ulvåfjällets peaks and the Lill-Ulvån rapids that forge their way ahead. By the suspension bridge a couple of kilometers from Storulvån there is an outhouse. The 47 km triangular Swedish hiking trail, the Jämtland Triangle, finally reaches its conclusion at the Storulvån station, a place to celebrate your achievement with a three course dinner, a hot sauna and a plunge into the freezing waters that the Sami call gaaltije.

The Swedish hike known as the Jämtland Triangle serves as a place where many have discovered hiking or felt what it means to be one with nature. With a small bow of the head in gratitude, we thank the mountains for one of the best experiences of hiking in Sweden.