Etapp 8, Entré Nord Skuleskogens nationalpark - Balesuddens naturreservat, Höga Kusten-Leden

From Skuleskogen National Park Entré Nord, the trail follows a gravel road down towards the community of Näske and on to Köpmanholmen. From here, the trail continues along the coastal landscape to Sandlågan, where you enter Balesudden Nature Reserve. The reserve offers varied hiking through forests, along cliffs and over heights of over 150 meters above sea level. A two-kilometer detour leads to the viewpoint on Balesberget, via the mirror-clear pond Balestjärnen.

At Entré Nord, there are benches, tables, dry toilets, a fireplace, a litter bin and an information board about the national park. For further information and a comprehensive map of Skuleskogen National Park, contact Naturum Höga Kusten. Brochures are available from May to October at Entrance South, North and West.

From Entré Nord, the trail follows a gravel road down to the small community of Näske. Here you will find a beautiful marina, shelter and toilet. Then it continues along the public road all the way to the stage destination Köpmanholmen, an old mill community that was built up around Forssbolaget's paper pulp factory, later NCB. The factory has long since closed down and the buildings have been demolished. The area has been cleaned up and today there are only a few small industries left.

In Köpmanholmen - the birthplace of blues singer Torsten "Totta" Näslund - the trail passes through the community where you will find services in the form of a grocery store and kiosk. Feel free to stop and visit the fragrant Herb Farm at the entrance next to the Brukskyrkan, which is well maintained and open to visitors around the clock throughout the summer. There is also some art from the internationally renowned sculptor and ceramicist Hans Hedberg, who was born in Köpmanholmen in 1917 but lived in Biot, France, for much of his life. Hedberg is best known for his giant ceramic fruits and eggs, and he collaborated for a time with Marc Chagall and socialized with Picasso, Léger and Matisse.

On the southern shore of Åfjärden is Herrgårdsparken, a nature and art park with sculptures, flowers and picnic areas, where visitors can enjoy a scenic experience with many exciting and surprising details along the walking path. The park is open 24 hours a day, all year round and is a popular walking and exercise trail with good accessibility. Adjacent to Herrgårdsparken there is also Café Ringarbönninga and the Mill Museum where you can learn more about how people lived during the industrial era in Köpmanholmen in the early 1900s.

From Köpmanholmen, at the grocery store, there is a detour towards the harbor in Köpmanholmen (Kläppa). Here you will find Kajkanten Restaurant B&B which serves food and offers accommodation through its B&B. From here there is a regular boat service to the islands of Trysunda and Ulvön, two ancient fishing villages where you feel the wings of history. There are accommodation options on both islands and good opportunities to get something good to eat and drink on Ulvön.

About 1 kilometer from Köpmanholmen is Köpmanholmen's sea bath, with a windbreak, barbecue area, benches and tables. Next to the fine sandy beach there is also a windbreak designed and built by architecture students from all over Scandinavia through the Arknat project, an architecture festival where architecture students make windbreaks for everyone to enjoy. If you continue the road east, you come to Hålviken. At the end of the road there is a parking lot, with an information board, benches and tables and a dry toilet. Here the trail continues into Balesudden nature reserve. About 300 meters from the parking lot there is a shelter with a view of Köpmanholmen.

Balesudden is a relatively large reserve of 923 hectares, which was established in 1985. Six kilometers of the trail runs through the reserve. The nature can be compared to Skuleskogen; hilly terrain, varying from dark spruce forests to more open mountain plateaus at more than 150 meters above sea level. Inside the reserve there is a detour from the trail of two kilometers that takes you to the viewpoint on Balesberget. From there you can see large parts of the High Coast archipelago, from Skagsudde in the north to Ulvöarna in the south.

On the way to Balesberget you pass Balestjärnen. This lake is remarkable in several ways, not least its location and extremely clear water. It lies in a pot surrounded by acidic rocks, Nordingrågranit, but the water is still almost alkaline. The explanation probably lies in the surrounding pH-raising shell gravel, i.e. fossilized mussel shell banks. You can swim in the tarn and if you happen to carry a camera with water-resistant protection, you can take delicious underwater pictures as everything is very clear below the surface.

Directly adjacent to the trail, about 500 meters west of Sör-Balesviken, there are beautiful cave formations and giant pots, once formed by the waves of the sea. At Sör-Balesviken there is a barbecue area and dry toilet. There are also tent sites here.

From Sör-Balesviken the trail continues to Bodviken, where there is an overnight cabin equipped with eight bunks, tables and chairs, a stove and a dry toilet. Tents are available. Drinking water can be taken from the stream that flows into the bay.

The trail then continues for about a kilometer to Sandlågan, with a nice shallow beach where you can take the opportunity to swim. As the beach is shallow, it is mainly suitable for smaller boats and sea kayaks. Mooring is towards the beach. About 500 meters south of the parking lot there is a shelter with barbecue area, bench table and dry toilet. There is an information board at the parking lot.