Route: Hälsingeleden Harsa-Bollnäs (Sweden)

Submitted by nikitasls on Wed, 06/09/2021 - 11:04am
Location
Sweden
Distance
52.71 km
Vertical Gain
832 m
Description

One of the most well travelled stretches of Hälsingeleden, thanks to an iconic cross country ski race, this route takes you through some of the most beautiful deep forest in the Hälsingland region. An intimate journey through the nature that is the heart of Sweden, with blue mountains all around. This region has a rich wildlife, with moose, deer, lynx, wolves, and brown bear, among others.

Although most of the route travels through remote land, there are a few shelters and opportunities to fill up with water along the way, namely Byvallen, Nyvallen, Acktjärbo, and Galven. Hälsingeleden is marked with orange signs and markings on trees, and maps are available for purchase in many local businesses, and more rudimentary pdf maps are available from the local municipality: https://www.sporthallen.nu/index.php/motionsspar-och-leder/haelsingeleden.

The aforementioned cross country skiing route starts in Harsa and finishes at Bolleberget ski area, but this route takes you all the way in to Bollnäs, and the terminus of this leg of Hälsingeleden, by the sports hall. Continue a couple more kilometers past this terminus and you will end up by lake Varpen, where you can relax and enjoy a nice swim. Bollnäs is well connected by train and bus, and it is possible to get almost all the way to the start at Harsagården by bus, just catch Bus #51 to Löräng and jogg/walk the last 13 km along Harsavägen.

GPS Track

Comments

I tried running this route today, it's really nice but some parts where much harder then I had expected. Great gpx-file, I would never have found my way without it. Most parts of the route are easy and possible to run but there are a few really strange parts that I would never have figured out without the gpx-file. I ran unsupported and had a hard time finding water even though the map says there should be a few different places available I only found one of them even though I was looking for them.
Unfortunately I missed a turn a few km from Byvallen and ran on the road for 1.5 km, and I couldn't risk to go back due to the lack of water, so I will not register this attempt which I therefore also decided to end at Bollegården. Total distance after a few wrong turns: 52.5 km (6h 43m). More details and some photos on Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/5636618340