Stage start
Balesudden
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
Balesudden to Örnsköldsvik
Höga Kusten-leden · Stage 9
Walking time as hogakusten.com states it for this stage; measured on the mapped line: 5 h 21. Climb measured on the mapped line, on terrain heights. Hogakusten.com
19kmStage distance
425mAscent, measured
6 hOfficial time
9Stage number
Over the Vitsjö hills and Varvsberget into Örnsköldsvik: 18.8 km, moderate, 6 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
Loading topographic map…
Flat (<5%) Gentle (5–10%) Moderate (10–15%)
Green: Balesudden to Örnsköldsvik. Grey: full trail. Elevation follows this mapped track.
Balesudden to Örnsköldsvik
9 / 9
Where this stage starts and ends
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 end · overnight
Örnsköldsvik
Town
The town at the finish, with hotels, a hostel and the station.
OpenStreetMap lists at least 6 places to stay within about 1300 m (read 13 October 2026). TrailSplits has not checked which are open.
Elite Plaza Hotel · Hotel
Season 2026: 2026 dates not published
Örnsköldsviks vandrarhem · Hostel or bunkhouse
Season 2026: 2026 dates not published
Walking time for this leg
- Balesudden to Örnsköldsvik: 6 h· graded Medel. Measured on the mapped line: 5 h 21. hogakusten.com, read 13 October 2026
Make it your trip
Free cabins, booked beds
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.
Hornöberget to Örnsköldsvik
The destination's nine stages, a night at the end of each.
Plan this journeyUllånger to Örnsköldsvik
Skuleberget, Skuleskogen and Balesudden in five stages, with buses at Ullånger and Örnsköldsvik.
Plan this journeyWeather this week
Loading the forecast for low point (sea level) and high point (178 m)…
Weather by month
Typical weather on this stage: at the lowest point (sea level) and the highest point (178 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°/-9° | -2°/-9° | 1°/-6° | 6°/-2° | 12°/3° | 17°/8° | 20°/11° | 18°/10° | 13°/6° | 6°/1° | 1°/-3° | -1°/-7° |
| Low point, day / night | -1°/-8° | -1°/-8° | 2°/-5° | 7°/-1° | 13°/4° | 18°/9° | 21°/12° | 19°/11° | 14°/7° | 8°/2° | 2°/-2° | 0°/-6° |
| Rain, mm | 55 | 40 | 35 | 36 | 38 | 52 | 79 | 80 | 60 | 77 | 72 | 62 |
| Snow at high point | Likely | Likely | Likely | Possible | – | – | – | – | – | Possible | Possible | Likely |
| Daylight | 5 h 39 | 8 h 40 | 11 h 36 | 14 h 51 | 17 h 59 | 20 h 23 | 19 h 23 | 16 h 21 | 13 h 08 | 10 h 02 | 6 h 52 | 4 h 42 |
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
Prepare for Höga Kusten-leden
Arrange your stays, food and travel first, then check conditions again near departure.
Skuleskogen National Park
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 SkuleskogenNotices
Länsstyrelsen 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: SkuleskogenLong and hard stages
Stage 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
Connect your journey
Travel around Balesudden to Örnsköldsvik.
Google Maps journey searches, not confirmed services. A mountain endpoint may need a booked transfer or an additional walk.
To the start at Hornöberget
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: timetablesOn the way
Buses 421 and 422 run from Köpmanholmen and Näske to Örnsköldsvik. There is no bus to Gavik.
Din Tur: timetablesHome from Örnsköldsvik
Norrtåg 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
Offline maps
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.
- Open this trail in the app. Install TrailSplits, then open this trail there. On iPhone, downloads in a browser may not be available in the installed app.
- Choose your route or stages. Choose Prepare offline above. Wait for the route and maps to finish downloading.
- Try it before leaving coverage. Switch offline, close and reopen the app, then use My Hikes to start navigation. Repeat for every part you will need.
Saving a bookmark is not a map download. Storage can be cleared by your device; keep a backup map for remote trips.
Route & sources
About this map
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