Svartedalen - Härsevattnet
Härsevattnet
or Härsvattnet as it is also called, is a strongly acidified lake that has never been limed. The lake has a low pH value (4.5), which means that the lake's ecosystem is strongly affected. No fish can survive in the lake and today the most important predators in the lake are large water beetles and dragonfly larvae.
At the southern tip and northern tip of the lake there are high mountains with a good view, but remember to keep the children under supervision as it drops steeply towards the lake! Bohusleden runs along the western side and it is marked with orange markings, if you want to go around the lake it takes about 3 hours and it is a rather difficult terrain with steep slopes without ropes and many damp places.
Mossy spruce forest
Around the lake there is a large and mighty old forest, untouched since about 150 years ago, with a soft carpet of moss to walk in. The ground is covered with green mosses and in autumn there is an abundance of mushrooms. Common yellow chanterelles and funnel chanterelles are found here. Sometimes you can find rarities such as cauliflower mushroom and scaly hedgehog (Sarcodon imbricatus). There are plenty of russulas and boletes.
Bird life
From the trees you can hear tits and goldcrests (Regulus regulus). Here and there there are dead trees where the woodpeckers have chopped and if you are lucky you can come across the three-toed woodpecker (Picoides tridactylus), which is rare for Bohuslän.
Hiking
The trip around the lake takes about 3 hours and it is both steep and wet in places. The easiest way is to walk "clockwise" around the lake, from the parking lot you go back a bit and turn right down towards the lake and then follow the path north. A little further north you walk along the Bohusleden and follow the orange markings. When you get over the crack at the northern end, you turn east and pass a damp section. After that, you can choose to follow the narrow path along the lake (steep here and there) or one of the paths that are further up in the forest (more mushrooms), back to the parking lot. In several places you can have coffee with a nice view of the lake.
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