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I better admit that before my trip to Sweden I only knew one national park in Sweden: Abisko. You will find a total of 30 national parks and countless nature reserves in Sweden, all of which are worth a visit. We were particularly blown away by the Tivedens National Park. Because it combines several of Sweden's scenic features: beautiful lakes with deep blue water, endless (primeval) forests and spectacular rocky landscapes.

Interesting facts about Tivedens National Park

Tivedens National Park is located in the southern part of Sweden between the lakes Vänern and Vättern. If you travel to Sweden via Malmö, you should plan around five hours driving time, from Gothenburg it is only three hours. The rocky national park, which is partly overgrown with jungle and therefore has a particularly mystical effect, has a particularly beautiful word origin: Tiveden means forest (ved) of the god Tyr (Ti).

The best way to explore Tivedens National Park is via the 25-kilometer hiking network. Camping is not allowed here, but there is a campsite near the entrance to the park. In the park you will find a visitor center, toilets, barbecue areas and even a swimming beach. When the weather is nice, don't forget your bathing suit! Of course you can meet numerous animals in Tivedens National Park, for example moose, deer, beaver, foxes and even wolves and lynxes.

To protect nature, cars are of course forbidden in the national park - but they are the only means of getting there. There is a large visitor car park with a separate area for mobile homes. By the way, the last kilometers to the park are very adventurous and lead over a narrow gravel road.

Hiking in Tivedens National Park

We ourselves visited Tivedens National Park on a hot summer day. We thought long and hard about which of the numerous hikes we should do. All circular routes are marked with a color and described in detail in the visitor center. There are also cards that you can take with you. We decided to combine the yellow trail (Stenkällerundan) with the purple trail (Trehörningsrundan). This route leads over the rocks, first up to a plateau and then back down to the lake, where there are numerous bathing spots. You have to overcome some differences in altitude and, in addition to a fantastic view of the water, you also get to see jungle-like primeval forest. The short hike of three kilometers in total was a perfect choice for this hot day. Lots of nature without excessive exertion. On a less hot day, we would probably have opted for the six-kilometre Oxögabergsrundan or the ten-kilometre tour of the lake on the Trehörningsrundan trail.

There are a total of nine marked circular hiking trails. From ultra short (1 km) to medium long (10 km). If you want to hike longer, you can easily combine different trails. You should also know that you have to be sure-footed for all trails, because they run over unpaved and rocky paths and contain small (easy) climbing passages.

Tivedens National Park: Our hike with the dog on the Stenkällerundan Trail

At the national park center we followed the signs to the yellow trail (Stenkällerundan). Here you can either keep straight/slightly right or take the left path. We walked around to the left so that we climbed directly onto one of the small rocky mountains and quickly enjoyed a fantastic view of the lake. You now walk over a rock plateau high above the lake, to the right you have a view of the jungle. Then it goes down again and you reach the first bathing spots on the lake. Here we took a break and made ourselves comfortable on the rocks. The next section of the route continues to follow the shore until it goes up again to the next rocky plateau. By the way, the trail markers here are yellow and purple. The purple path continues along the lake (circumnavigation), while the yellow one turns sharp right at some point and leads back to the center. We followed the purple path a little longer and finally turned right at the connection, the gray path, until after a short hike through the jungle we found the yellow path again. By the way, you can't miss the markings, there are colorful ribbons on the trees.

With a dog in Tivedens National Park 

Dogs are allowed throughout the national park, but must be on a leash, as is the case everywhere in Sweden in summer.

Also remember to take enough water with you, because there aren't drinking stations everywhere.

A hike in the Tivendens National Park shouldn't be a problem for most dogs, but there are occasional steep, rocky passages that require some sure-footedness.