Döda fallet – the dead falls of Ragunda

A disastrous event created the site

It has been called the largest natural disaster facilitated by a man in modern times. Where the grand rapids once created an enormous audio mass there is now a desolate landscape, only a few birds are heard. As a visitor you feel really small amongst the large boulders and giant potholes caused by swirling stones caught for ages in pockets of rock in the rapids. Some surfaces are made smooth from all the years in water. The emptied waterfall is bordered by green forest on both sides. A visit to the dead fall gives you a strange, calm, yet loaded feeling. It´s a disaster that resembles an art exhibition, a giant installation if you like.

The bypass was meant to make floating timber easier

The story is dramatic. The grand rapids connected Lake Ragunda to the Indalsälven river and was dreaded by the timber workers trying to get loads of timber undamaged to the Swedish coast for further shipments. The plan in 1796 was to dig a bypass canal for floating the timber securely, instead of having them break and get stuck in the 30 meter high waterfall (the Niagara falls is 51 metres high to give you some perspective).

The daring man who got himself into trouble

A daring work was led by merchant Magnus Huss. He used water from a stream and created ponds to let the overflow water create its own path around the rapids. Slowly, the water began to take a new direction. As spring progressed the melting snow helped in the process and from one day to the other the Grand Rapids literally became the Dead Falls overnight on June 6th in 1796.

The rising water pushed through the dam, and drained Lake Ragunda completely as the entire river was redirected straight through the forest. The total devastation was a fact. Farms, livestocks and sawmills miles along the shores of the river where lost in a process that lasted less than 4 hours. Miraculously no human lives were taken by the gigantic flood wave.

“It looks like the devil himself went through with a snowplow”, the policeman of the area said when he looked out that morning.

The geology of the site came into the open

Now Magnus Huss got his nickname the “Crazy Huss” and a mob of angry farmers eagerly sought for him leaving him running for his life. One year later he was found drowned in the river. In the following trial after the disaster no one was found guilty. Experts claimed the water would have broken through sooner or later because of the geological structure of the area.

It is peaceful today when one is visiting the Dead Falls and it is easy to imagine the grandeur of the once roaming falls. On rustic and impressive wooden walkways you can take a comfortable tour to see the boulders and potholes up close. There are some deep dark green holes filled with water in some places mirroring the surrounding pines.

Information boards tells the story of that unlikely night some 200 years ago when the water took another way. There is a nature path leading into the forest with information on flora and fauna. Do not be surprised if you happen to see the bats of the nature reserve encompassing the dead falls area.

The large rotatable platform for spectators, built in 1993 on a motor from a power shovel, was made for musical and theatrical shows with the dead falls as a magical backdrop. Over the years there has been performances here like the story of Vildhussen (the Crazy Huss) and Shakespeare´s A Midsummer Night´s dream.