Tiveden National Park

Tiveden was the forest between Vastergotland and Narke that travellers avoided, a byword for wild country and robbers in the old sources, and the ground explains why: the ice left a chaos of granite blocks the size of houses piled across the slopes, with pine growing out of the gaps and paths that squeeze between and under them. Trollkyrka, the troll church, is a rock formation where illicit gatherings are said to have been held. Stenkalleget is the densest block field. The park is small at about twenty square kilometres but the walking is slow because of the terrain. Vitsand at the northern end has a sand beach on a clear lake.

What you actually see

• Granite blocks the size of houses - piled across the slopes.
• Paths squeezing between boulders - slow going by design.
• Trollkyrka rock formation - with the stories attached.
• Vitsand beach - sand on a clear lake at the north end.

When to go

May to October; autumn is quieter. A full day.

Honest expectations

Trails are genuinely rough - scrambling over and between rock, not walking. Summer weekends fill the car parks. Distances look short on the map and take much longer. Mosquitoes in early summer.

Nearby

Karlsborg and Vattern are south; Askersund is north.