Mardseleforsen

The Vindelalven is one of the four large Swedish rivers never dammed for power, and at Mardsele it splits into a series of channels running white through a scatter of wooded islands over about a kilometre. Footbridges link several of the islands so you can stand in the middle of the rapids with water on both sides. The reserve holds old pine and spruce with a rich lichen flora, and the river carries salmon and trout upstream. Flow is heaviest in early summer after the melt, when the rapids are loud and the lower paths can be under water. There is a shelter and a fireplace and nothing else.

The landscape

• A river braided round islands - about a kilometre of rapids.
• Footbridges between islands - standing in the middle of it.
• An unregulated river - one of four large ones left.
• Old pine and spruce - with a rich lichen flora.

When to go

June to September; early summer for volume. Two to three hours.

Good to know

High water covers the lower paths in early summer. Bridges and rocks are wet and slippery. Mosquitoes are heavy. Facilities are a shelter and a car park.

Nearby

Lycksele is south; Ammarnas and the mountains are north-west.