Welcome to the Finn Forest

 

Discover the Finn Forest
There is plenty to discover in the Finn Forest, in the magnificent nature and by following in the footprints of the Forest Finns. Hiking trails for all ages, for beginners and veterans alike, take you through beautiful natural and cultural landscapes. Here you can discover a different part of Sweden and new exciting places. There are miles and miles of forest, wetlands, wild rapids, blue mountains, viewing points and glittering lakes here. In addition, there are many Forest Finn places of interest which, along with a picnic basket, you can discover by yourself. All our places of interest provide a unique insight into how the Forest Finns lived and how generations preserved the culture of language, customs, folklore and handicrafts. The original culture was characterised by large families, teamwork, birch bark handicrafts, rye cultivation with fermented rye bread and unique heating in smoke cottages. All of this can be experienced in the many lifelike and well-preserved homesteads, villages and farms that exist around the Finn Forest.

 

Experience the Finn Forest
In order to make the Finn Forest easily accessible to everyone we offer various Forest Finn experiences. On short or long horseback rides you can learn more about the forest’s history, track wolves and bears, experience the elusive natural phenomenon, cook and spend the night in the open. Join snowmobile tours, exciting walking-tours on snow shoes or a world-class, action-packed cycling weekend, crammed with Forest Finn features. In the Finn Forest you can paddle, hike, bake, visit museums, fish, take a smoke sauna and much more. For those who would like to learn more about the Forest Finn culture and the handicrafts in the Finn Forest, handicraft courses, music events, cookery courses, interesting meetings with stories and smoke cottage evenings are arranged. In addition, the Finn Forest offers many different types of accommodation, based on your particular needs. From the basic with outdoor lavatory and close proximity to nature to hotel accommodation or modern, comfortable cottages with wood-burning stove. There are lifelike Finnish farms with “rior” drying rooms and smoke cottages and in some places meals are served prepared with local ingredients and with the elements of the Forest Finns.

 

Summer in the Finn Forest
Summer offers many experiences that give you a break from everyday life and lots of new insights. Scents of pine, fire and birch blend with the mild air and in the Finn Forest the flora is impressive with many protected plants that smell wonderful, especially at night. Like oases in the forest landscape Finnish settlements appear as beautiful, natural resting places and flowering meadows invite you to long breaks, with your packed lunch. Around the Finn Forest there are great swimming and fishing waters and in the autumn the forest is filled with berries, herbs and mushrooms. There are many reasons to make a visit to the Finn Forest in the summer.

 

Winter in the Finn Forest
When the snow falls there is much to do. In the winter there are tracked ski trails at snow-safe places around the Finn Forests, ploughed ice tracks and many facilities for alpine skiing. On the trails for snowmobiles you can move through the winter landscape past crofts and settlements, smell the coffee and the log fire. Experience magical viewpoints, a horse and sleigh ride, exciting snow shoe and ski tours in untracked terrain under snow-covered tree halls. In the winter you will never be bored in the Finn Forest.

 

 

Behind ecvery corner there is a new story

Central Sweden’s inaccessible coniferous forests are a unique part of Sweden. A part that we call the Finn Forest and which at the end of the 16th century was home to a mythical people. The Forest Finns, or the ‘slash and burn’ Finns as they were also called, emigrated from Finland and transformed the undeveloped forest into farmland. They carried out ‘slashing and burning’, clearing the way for crofts and farms, lived in smoke cottages and took smoke saunas. They gave Finnish names in the surrounding landscape and also shaped the culture and history of the region. The Forest Finns were assumed to have magical powers, they believed in nature spirits and with incantations, sacrifices and rituals they remained friends with the forest gods.

 

We welcome you to experience and explore the culture of the Forest Finns.

 

 

 

Read article (pdf) published
in Scan Magazine 2012

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Below you will find addresses to companies in the Finn Forest with websites in English.