Stepping softly through grand nature

Imagine that you are standing in the east and gazing out across Vätterbranterna. You will find a varied landscape under your feet here, with steep mountainsides, deep lakes and pale pastureland – an idyllic platform with much to see, experience and feel. In the nooks there also are gems such as Vista Kulle, a mountaintop with accompanying ancient castle, and Brattaberget with its many unusual species.

You make your way farther in the east to the venerable little village of Röttle, just south of Gränna. The village exudes Småland idyll with its old mills and appurtenant marina. There is also a completely magical waterfall here where you can sit for a while. It’s absolutely quiet except for the rushing rapids. Despite murmuring, rapid movements of the water, calm reigns, which makes way for relaxation and replenishment of new energy.

From the falls and the depth of the water, you proceed 300 metres above sea level to the highest parts of the Huskvarna mountain ridge, which is connected with two exciting hiking trails. You can get a fantastic view through the treetops here as you move across an area of greenschist and a number of rare plants that you can study when and if the spirit moves you.

At the southern tip of Lake Vättern, there is a local gem, a unique feature of great significance for Scandinavia. At Rosenlund Banks, which was formed more than 10,000 years ago when the inland ice sheet melted, sky and water meet in an extraordinary way. Here you can also take advantage of the opportunity to visit another favourite place between Jönköping and Huskvarna, Bondberget Nature Reserve. It is an open-air recreational area and nature reserve with both meadow glades and coniferous forests that resemble a typical Bauer forest in places. On certain days beams of the sun slip through the foliage in a way that creates utterly enchanting lighting effects, and perhaps you can imagine Tuvstarr by a forest lake.

It’s getting late and the sun is silently descending across the sky. But you have time for a couple more steps. West of Jönköping you experience Dumme Mosse and its varied wetlands. The light is an almost shimmering red, and it immediately colours the stark bog, where swarms of gnats are lit up above the marshes while a black grouse sweeps past. All of your senses are open and inspired as you continue on foot along the planked trail. In this exotic landscape stretching as far as the eye can see, it almost seems as if you no longer are in Sweden.