In the south-western part of Småland (now the province of Kronobergslän) there are a total of 33 nature reserves where you can walk and enjoy nature. Today we take a look at Årshultsmyren – a piece of untouched marshland, with well-maintained and beautiful hiking trails of 4 to 9 km.
Årshultsmyren is the largest untouched marshland in Kronobergslän. The reserve consists of various mosses and marshes with forested islands and lakes.
The 1,500 hectare reserve protects and preserves an extensive and largely untouched marsh complex together with the animals and plants that live there. Just west of Årshultsmyren lies Hunnsberget – from where you have a wide view over the landscape of the nature reserve with its marshes and forests.
Hunnsberget is the highest mountain in Ljungby municipality. This is where the legend of the shoemaker in Sutarestugan takes place: “once upon a time a shoemaker, called Sutaren, fled from the Danish soldiers. He hid in a small cave on the steepest side of the mountain. Every Danish soldier who climbed up, was knocked down.”
The marshland is typical of the rainy areas in the southwest of Småland. The marshlands consist of hollows surrounded by drier areas with tufts of grass. And the water forms moving carpets of marsh here and there.
Typical for the marshes are the white mosses. Other common plants are heather, bell heather, cotton grass, deer grass, the white beak sedge, and the insect-eating round-leaved sundew. Around Örsjön in the north and Kyrkängen in the south, the bell gentian grows, among other things. The islands are mainly home to conifers. Various species of birds also nest in this marshland, such as the curlew, wood sandpiper, golden plover, capercaillie, black grouse and cranes.
Enjoy your walk through Årshultsmyren – a piece of untouched marshland, and up hill Hunnsberget.
