Sights: Wild hilly forest landscape. Beautiful forest lakes. Giant boulders at Stenkälla. The view from the Trollkyrkobergen mountains. The bathing beach at Vitsand.
Area: 1,350 hectares.
Established: 1983.
Location: Between lakes Vänern and Vättern in Laxå and Karlborg municipalities, Örebro and Västra Götaland County.
Visiting Tiveden: The easiest way to approach the national park is from Highway 49 between Karlsborg and Askersund. A narrow road, Tivedsleden, runs through the area; it passes Stenkällebergen, where there is a parking area and an information display. There are 25 kilometres of hiking trails which pass the most interesting sights.
Tiveden national park is one of southern Sweden's wildest forests. It is a rolling, mountainous and stony area. The park is in the most inaccessible part of the forest, the part called Trolltiven. And yet is not as untouched as it first seems.
Burn-beating, charcoal-making and logging have all taken place here. But no people have ever lived here. The national park contains several beautiful wild lakes where fish have been planted. It also contains impressive boulders, up to 10 m in height, which have been carried here by the inland ice. There are several caves, the best known being Stenkälla, an old sacrificial site from pagan times.
There is little animal life in Tiveden, but there is a large capercaillie population. The flora is also poor, since the biotope is stony pine forest.