page_title: Vindelfjällen Nature Reserve
section_title: Tourism
hierarchical_section_title: Vindelfjällen Nature Reserve / Activities / Tourism
caption_attribution_description: English: Hemavan airport Svenska: Hemavans flygplats
context_page_description: The Vindelfjällen Nature Reserve is a nature reserve located in the municipalities of Sorsele and Storuman in Västerbotten County of Swedish Lapland. It is the largest natural reserve in Sweden and one of the largest protected areas in Europe, totaling 562,772 ha.
  Most of the reserve is made up of several Scandinavian Mountains, the main ones being Artfjället, Norra Storfjället, Ammarfjället and Björkfjället. Most of the landscapes of the Swedish mountains are represented. This ranges from the pronounced alpine character of Norra Storfjället, which includes the highlight of the reserve, the Norra Sytertoppen, to the plateau and plains near the base of the mountains. The differences in elevation highlight the diversity of rocks in the mountains. Among the mountains are the valleys and waterways of the Ume River drainage basin. This includes a portion of the Vindel River, after which the reserve is named. Towards the east, the elevation decreases and the mountains give way to the Lapland Plains.
  This landscape diversity also includes biodiversity. The reserve covers the primary forests of the Nordic taiga in the eastern plains to alpine tundra and birch forests in the west.
context_section_description: The number of tourist visiting the reserve has significantly increased since the creation of the reserve. There were 412,000 tourists staying overnight in the villages of Tärnaby, Hemavan, and Ammarnäs in the year 2000. Similarly, the number of tourists staying overnight in one of the cabins along the Kungsleden hiking trail was approximately 5,000 in 2010. Tourism activities are many and varied and include hiking, horseback riding, dog sledding, cross-country skiing, snowmobiling , hunting, fishing, exploring the Sami culture, etc. Many tourist companies are active in the reserve and the Nature Reserve designation Vindelfjällen is actively used to promote tourism, both by local and national agencies.
  The main entry points for visiting the reserve are the villages of Ammarnäs or Hemavan. Both villages are easily accessible by road and are connected by bus to the main railway stations and regional cities, such as Umeå in Sweden or Mo i Rana in Norway . The Hemavan Tärnaby Airport   is the closest airport to the reserve and has one flight per day, 6 days per week, to and from Stockholm-Arlanda, with a flight time of 2.5 hours 
  At its inception, the reserve had very little tourist infrastructure, and one of the stated objectives with this creation was to improve accessibility. In 1978, Swedish architect Tore Abrahamsson presented a report to the administration of Västerbotten county in which he recommended the construction of trails and chalets. From this, many projects came to life .  For example, cottages (stuga) were built along the Kungsleden trail in 1983 and in 2001, between 1993 and 1994 other cottages (koja) were within the area of the reserve that was added in 1988. In 1984, a Naturum (interpretive nature center) was built at Ammarnäs and a second one in 2004 in Hemavann.
  Nowadays, the reserve has an extensive trail system, totaling about 600 km. The best known trail is the Kungsleden trail, but Drottningleden trail (south of Hemavan) and Vindelvaggileden trail (along the Vindel River valley) are also well known. The trails are made of planks in the wetland area and numerous bridges. In all, there are more than 40 bridges in the reserve, the most notable are the successive bridges that cross Lake Tärnasjön at the southern archipelago; sometimes called the Vindelfjällen Golden Gate Vindelfjällen. Most trails are also snowmobile trails in winter, but there are also use specific paths. To enable hikers and snowmobile drivers to spend the night in the reserve, many cottages were built in the reserve. There are three types of cottages: one is a paid Stuga cottage to spend the night and often contains some equipment (emergency phone, kitchen, etc.), the Koja is a free cabin to spend the night, but not equipped, finally a rudimentary Rastskydd is a small cottage to take a short break. In 2012, the reserve has 15 stuga and 8 koja (for a total capacity of 250 people) as well as 7 rastskydd. The main stuga (sleeping up to 30 people each ) are located along the Kungsleden trail, but there are also several other trails nearby. The koja are mostly located in coniferous forests, and are usually not connected to the network of trails.
caption: Hemavan Airport in Tärnaby, with the Norra Storfjället mountain range in the background .
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