Höga Kusten-leden · Stage 8
Walking time as hogakusten.com states it for this stage; measured on the mapped line: 5 h 18. Climb measured on the mapped line, on terrain heights. Hogakusten.com
By Näske and Köpmanholmen to the north end of the Balesudden reserve: 20 km, moderate, 6 to 7 hours.
Best season: Summer trail; open all year. The waymarked trail is a summer trail. The cabins are open all year, but in winter snow covers the markings, skis or snowshoes may be needed, and on higher ground snow lingers into May. Summer services close early: the shop at Lövvik opens from mid-June to mid-August, and Docksta's campsite from 15 May to 15 September. Before you go
Facts read from the guide's sources and OpenStreetMap on 13 October 2026. A page can change after we read it, so confirm with your accommodation before you rely on a date or a bed.
Stage start
Trailhead
The national park's north entrance; the Stortoberget shelter is on the trail just after it, and the park's free cabins are behind it.
Stortoberget shelter · Camping spot
Tärnättsundet · Mountain refuge
Övernattningsstuga vid Tärnättvattnen · Mountain refuge
Season 2026: 1 January 2026 to 31 December 2026
Övernattningsstuga på Tärnättholmarna · Mountain refuge
Season 2026: 1 January 2026 to 31 December 2026
Stage end
Trailhead
The north end of the Balesudden reserve, by the Sandlågan shelter. The free Bodviken cabin, 8 berths, is about 1.5 km before it.
Bodviken · Mountain refuge
Sandlågan shelter · Camping spot
Make it your trip
The trail's cabins and shelters are free and cannot be booked: you share them, newcomers get the bunks, and in Skuleskogen you stay at most two nights in a cabin. Hostels, B&Bs, hotels and campsites are booked with each of them. In the national park, from 1 May to 30 September, put up a tent and make a fire only at the marked places.
The destination's nine stages, a night at the end of each.
Plan this journeySkuleberget, Skuleskogen and Balesudden in five stages, with buses at Ullånger and Örnsköldsvik.
Plan this journeyLoading the forecast for low point (sea level) and high point (150 m)…
Typical weather on this stage: at the lowest point (sea level) and the highest point (150 m). Select a month to see why it is rated as it is.
| Month | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Weather | Poor | Poor | Poor | Mixed | Good | Good | Good | Good | Good | Mixed | Poor | Poor |
| High point, day / night | -2°/-8° | -2°/-8° | 1°/-6° | 6°/-1° | 11°/3° | 17°/8° | 20°/12° | 18°/11° | 13°/7° | 7°/2° | 2°/-3° | 0°/-6° |
| Low point, day / night | -1°/-7° | -1°/-8° | 2°/-5° | 7°/-1° | 13°/4° | 18°/9° | 21°/12° | 19°/11° | 14°/7° | 8°/2° | 3°/-2° | 0°/-6° |
| Rain, mm | 55 | 40 | 35 | 36 | 38 | 52 | 79 | 80 | 59 | 77 | 73 | 62 |
| Snow at high point | Likely | Likely | Likely | Possible | – | – | – | – | – | Frost | Possible | Likely |
| Daylight | 5 h 41 | 8 h 40 | 11 h 36 | 14 h 50 | 17 h 57 | 20 h 19 | 19 h 21 | 16 h 20 | 13 h 08 | 10 h 03 | 6 h 53 | 4 h 44 |
Source: TerraClimate 1991–2020 monthly averages. Averages for the area at each point’s elevation (4 km grid, corrected for height). Not a forecast or a report of current trail conditions. Snow at the high point is estimated with a simple snowpack model from these temperatures and precipitation, not observed; steep islands and high summits can hold more snow than it shows. Daylight is for the 15th of each month. Hut, transport and park seasons are separate: check them for your dates.
Before you go
Arrange your stays, food and travel first, then check conditions again near departure.
Inside the park, from 1 May to 30 September, tents only at the marked sites (at most three nights) and fires only at the marked fire places, with the wood supplied or brought in; the Salsviken tent site allows no fire at all. The six overnight cabins are free and open all year, with at most two nights per cabin. The destination no longer recommends the Slåttdalsskrevan ravine because of rockfall.
Swedish national parks: staying overnight in SkuleskogenLänsstyrelsen Västernorrland posts the state of the park's cabins and paths on its Skuleskogen page, and notices for the Skuleberget and Balesudden reserves on theirs. Read them before you set off.
Länsstyrelsen Västernorrland: SkuleskogenStage 2 is the longest, about 25 to 27 km and 10 to 12 hours by the destination, with no bus at Gavik at the end. Stages 1, 5 and 6 are graded hard.
Höga Kusten: the stagesGetting there
Travel around Entré Nord to Balesudden.
Google Maps journey searches, not confirmed services. A mountain endpoint may need a booked transfer or an additional walk.
Din Tur bus 50 between Härnösand and Örnsköldsvik stops at Hornöberget, Ullånger, Docksta and the naturum on the E4, on weekdays only. Norrtåg trains reach Härnösand and Kramfors.
Din Tur: timetablesBuses 421 and 422 run from Köpmanholmen and Näske to Örnsköldsvik. There is no bus to Gavik.
Din Tur: timetablesNorrtåg trains run from Örnsköldsvik C towards Umeå and Sundsvall all year; the autumn timetable runs from 12 October to 12 December 2026.
Norrtåg: timetablesTake your trip with you
Prepare each stage while you still have a connection: in the forests and ravines the signal can be weak.
Keep your route and maps on your phone for places without a signal. For multi-day trips, prepare them in the installed TrailSplits app.
Saving a bookmark is not a map download. Storage can be cleared by your device; keep a backup map for remote trips.
Route & sources
The Höga Kusten destination publishes the trail as nine stages, about 135 km from Hornöberget at the north end of the High Coast Bridge to the town garden in Örnsköldsvik, with an official stage time for each, shown beside ours on every stage. The line here is the route on OpenStreetMap (the seven stage relations of the trail's older split, from the planet of 11 October 2026): 137 km, cut at the nine stage ends. The destination gives stage 2 as 26.8 km; its own GPS track for the stage measures about 25 km, as our line does. Our climb is measured on terrain heights, so short steep rises are smoothed out.
Official guidance and mapped-source comparison checked 13 October 2026. Map data is a route reference, not confirmation of today's path, weather or accommodation availability.
Höga Kusten: Höga Kusten-ledenMap data © OpenStreetMap contributors · Source relation