High Coast

The High Coast is a UNESCO site honoured for the highest known land uplift on Earth, nearly three hundred metres since the ice age lifted its weight, which has left dramatically hilly, wooded shores, red cliffs and islands where old beaches now stand high on the hills. It is among the most striking stretches of the Swedish Baltic coast.

Background

The High Coast lies in Ångermanland, centred on the municipalities of Kramfors, Härnösand and Örnsköldsvik, and it is where land rising after the ice melted was first recognised and studied. The Fennoscandian ice sheet covered it until roughly 9600 years ago, and the rebound since then, about 285 metres, is the highest known on Earth. The land still rises by some 8 mm a year. The High Coast was inscribed as a World Heritage Site in 2000, and the listing was extended to Finland's Kvarken archipelago in 2006; together they cover 142,500 hectares.

Source: Wikipedia, "High Coast"

Highlights

• Skuleskogen National Park - the Slattdalsskrevan gorge and cliffs above the sea.
• The uplifted land - old shorelines now high on the wooded hills.
• The High Coast Bridge - the long suspension bridge across the Angerman river.
• Coastal islands - Ulvon and other islands, home of the fermented herring.

When to go

Summer for hiking, the islands and boat trips; autumn for colour on the wooded hills. It is a warm-season coast, quiet and scenic.

Good to know

The land-uplift story is a geological marvel more than an instant view, so the scenery, hilly wooded coast, is the draw rather than a single spectacle. It is a fair drive up the Bothnian coast. It rewards walking and boat trips more than a roadside glance.

Nearby

Skuleskogen park and the Ulvon islands are within it; Ornskoldsvik and Harnosand are the coastal towns.

Key facts