Canoeing in sweden recommendations

[elliott92]

Hi guys.

Been a long long long time since I've been on any bushcraft forums.

Use to get out rambling a lot! Then through my mid 20's I discovered rock climbing and surfing. Those 2 things all consumed me for years and my bush ramblings turned to camper vans and dirt bagging mixed in with the odd night in a hammock out amongst it.

I've got the bug to ramble again. Surfing and climbing are... hectic to say the least. I long to sit by the fire, wander through the woods, read, chill, look and listen to nothing but nature, be in the bottom end of nowhere and self reliant.

Going through my kit the other day I came across old plans I'd made to head to Sweden for a canoe trip. Flying to gothenberg, catching the train to Ed, hiring a canoe from Canodal and heading out for a few days. Myself and a friend are planning on seeing that plan through on the 14th to 18th of June this year.

Thought it best to ask some questions for the hive mind here.

What's that region generally like in mid June.. hot/cold/luck of the drawer? Are the midges bad? are there a load of tourists (a tourist not liking tourists, the irony) or can we really feel like we've lost ourself in the land.

Is Ed and Lake Stora le just a big flat boring bit of water? Seen a few videos that show it as an inland ocean with the odd island. Some videos show it as a place where there is many little bays and smaller waterways running off it. I don't want to spend all my days just paddling. Maybe 3 or 4 hours a day max. Is there anywhere better suited that takes you into wild little bays, tributaries, islands, and beautiful camp spots, or is this area pretty good for that?

I'm really hoping that a canoe outfitter may pick us up at the end of our route for a fee.. not too keen on heading back on ourselves, we're only going to have 3 full days that are without flying, so want to make the most of it. Is this something that many/any outfitters offer?

Campsites and fires... I understand that there are many well maintained wild camp spots with fire pits and logs and shelters. These look awesome, but it'd be great to be somewhere that isn't 'maintained'. Is camping with small safe fires (usual leave no trace and safety etc apply, im well aware of outdoor etiquette and would absolutely honour swedens right to roam guidelines and general way of life which is why i ask rather than do) away from designated spots a massive no no at that time of year?

Kit... I've spent a lot of time rambling and a fair bit of time canoe camping, pretty dialed in with my systems even if it hasn't been my forefront hobby for a while. Always interesting to hear any major do and don't takes people found when they did a trip like this?

Food.. throw me some local recommendations to stock up on in the shop that we may not experience in the uk?

Any other hints/tips/recommendations/personal experience would be really really really helpful. This is a trip that i dreamed of when I was 18/19/20. Now 31 I'm absolutely buzzing to finally get this done and get out there, my plans and dates are flexible to make this every bit as good as I've dreamt. If that means changing dates and regions/lakes/outfitters to suit then I'm all for it.

Goes without saying.. thanks for any replies and advice, its greatly appreciated.

All the best guys.

Elliott

 

[173]

Hi Elliott,
I can give a few recommendations from my experience of kayaking in the Stockholm archipelago.
Did that in late summer 2022 and also mid summer 2023. Both tours were incredible and unique. It depends much on the region, so you should collect info on regulations regarding where and you are allowed to light a fire, and where you can pitch up your tent.

For example, in late august I was lucky the bird sanctuary season was just over, meaning it was permitted to camp on islands which are strict no-humans-zones during the season.

It had been a dry summer and also mid august 2022 the weather was sunny and warm - which was nice but also meant a strict prohibition of open fires. For me that was no problem, I was satisfied cooking my meal on a camping stove.

Despite the area near Stockholm is highly frequented in summer time, when I was there the season was just over and I was mostly on my own for the whole six day trip. Just once I came across some kind of resort at which a barbecue had been held.

The other trip 2023 was in mid summer, when the area was highly frequented by folks enjoying life at their summer houses, sailing and other kayak enthusiasts.

Naturally, that one had been not the same kind of "lost in the woods" experience, but it was just as enjoyable for me personally.

There are so many wells providing fresh water, so you can plan to fetch water from a publicly acessible hand pump of which there are so many in sweden.

My advice in order to avoid ticks would be to bring a free standing tent, which can be set up on one of the flat rocks.

I had no issues with mosquitos - the camp sites I chose were a bit exposed to wind, tho. Priorities.

If you really want to be alone, you might want to consider a region further north, maybe Finland? I don't have experience with that, though.

If you are renting your gear, rental services are accessible by public transport in many cases. From what I have read, some are situated in spots which allow for round-trips, others are prepared for picking up the boats at some designated spot.

It shouldn't be a problem at all. The rental service of my choice near Stockholm provided me with all the gear I needed. Both of their stations are just a bus ride away from STHLM Central Station. Meaning, you can start at the station in the south where there is a supermarket nearby so that you can purchase your food right when it starts.

If you like to bring wine on your tour, don't expect that to be found in the grocery stores. Sweden has special stores for anything stronger than mild beer.

For this year I am considering to go canoing on the Sommen lake. Not yet decided if I bring my own kayak or rent a canoe.

I'll be happy to post more info, pictures and links -- as this is my first post here, I will wait for it to be active first.

Kind regards from germany
Eli

 

[Thoth]

A friend and I paddled in the Malingsbo - Kloten nature reserve last September. We opted to join an organised trip being run by Woodland Ways in order to minimise the logistical burden and balanced that against the pair of having recently retired and being fortunate to have some pension lump-sum funding available. The boats were hired from:
Nordic Discovery, Handelsbobacken 2, Kloten, 714 91 Kopparberg, Sweden which is a family run business. They picked us up at the airport and took us to their base (where there's a small shop and hostel type accommodation you can use either end of the trip). It was about 2.5 hours drive from Stockholm with an additional stopover at a large out of town shopping centre to stock up on groceries. I have the contact phone number and they speak excellent English (as did everyone we met). We wild camped everywhere and found unspoilt but clearly frequently used sites easily, all with established fire places consisting of nothing more than a ring of stones which can be adapted depending on wind direction and what grill or pot you want to use. The terrain is full of mossy boulders of assorted sizes (ranging from house brick size to Range Rover size) so we almost all used tarp and hammocks but you could squeeze a small tent in but don't get much choice where! There are inlets, rivers, islands but the heavily forested terrain is not easy to explore on foot. Firewood can be taken from the environment but you may have to work hard to carry it from the forest into camp, and it's hard as the growing season is short and the growth rings tighter together than you might expect from UK experience. You need a good saw and axe and be proficient in their use on unstable ground. You can buy 1:50,000 scale maps of Sweden and the outfitter sells a compilation of the 4 sheets that cover the reserve from thier shop. Mosquitos not too much of a problem in September but Deer Kegs and Ticks were not uncommon. Supermarkets seem to stock meths if you need fuel for a Trangia, but remember some airlines are fussy about residential fuel in your burner. Woodland Ways ran campcraft skills workshop on our trip but as we are both quite proficient we ducked out of most of those, but you might want to check their website just for photos of the area as I think they will be running the trip again this year. Happy to answer further questions, although I don't check in here as often as I once did.

 

[crosslandkelly]

This is from 2017, but may be of help.

Vattlefjall Sweden

Spent a fantastic 10 days exploring the lakes of Vattlefjall. we took a cab from the airport in Gothenburg directly to the canoe hire centre, about 45 km away. The staff at Kanotpool could not have been more friendly and helpful, and as it was tipping down, advised us of the closest shelter. We...

bushcraftuk.com

 

[C_Claycomb]

Stora Le, Sweden, September 2010

Eight of us visited Stora Le for a week's canoeing during at the start of September. The weather was fine, except for contrary winds which blew consistently across the lake for nearly the entire period, so depriving us of the chance to rig sail. img_5099 by Last Scratch, on Flickr First day on...

bushcraftuk.com

Another canoe trip on Stora Le, Sweden

Thought I would post a few pictures of the trip I just got back from on Stora Le. This is the third time I have been there, but the previous trips were in 2009 and 2010, where has the time gone?!? The 2009 trip was in April, just a couple of weeks after the last of the ice left the lake and we...

bushcraftuk.com

you can see exactly what Stora Le's shape and shoreline is like here:

Sweden topographic map, elevation, terrain

Visualization and sharing of free topographic maps. Sweden.

en-gb.topographic-map.com