Store Mosse National Park

Store Mosse covers about seventy-seven square kilometres of which the greater part is raised bog - peat that has built up over thousands of years into a dome fed only by rainfall, so it is nutrient-poor and acid, with sphagnum, cotton grass, cranberry and sundew and almost nothing else. Boardwalks cross it because walking on the surface is neither easy nor good for it. Kavsjon, a shallow lake at the northern end, holds crane, whooper swan and a long list of waders, with towers and hides. In spring cranes gather in numbers. There is a naturum at Kvarnholmen and marked trails of several lengths.

What you actually see

• A raised bog fed only by rain - sphagnum, cotton grass, sundew.
• Boardwalks across the surface - the only practical way over.
• Kavsjon lake - crane, whooper swan and waders.
• A naturum at Kvarnholmen - and trails from it.

When to go

April to September; spring for cranes. A full day.

Honest expectations

The bog is visually monotonous to some - flat, open, one habitat. There is no shelter from sun or rain. Mosquitoes are heavy in summer. Off the boardwalks the ground is impassable and should be left alone.

Nearby

Varnamo is east; Gnosjo is north.