Siksandshöjden, Naturreservat

The Siksandshöjden nature reserve consists of a small hilly moor and forest area with several small lakes. Here you will encounter a varied nature with a strong wilderness character.

Old forest with traces of fire

The forest in the area is dominated by conifers with elements of deciduous trees such as aspen and birch, especially on ridges and in boulder-rich, small hilly terrain. The older trees are around 200 years old, with a few pine trees much older than that. Many centuries-old spruces and pines can be found on the rocky shores around Lake Hälltjärnen. Along the dramatic eastern shore there are both rocky cliffs and vertical walls. There are occasional traces of older forest fires in the reserve in the form of old fire stumps, mainly in the pine forests adjacent to the bogs. In the more treeless marsh areas by Kulltjärnsbäcken there are mineral-rich so-called rich marsh areas, where rare brown mosses grow. These areas, and probably also parts of the stream valley, have been mown in the past to collect hay.

Dead wood attracts lichens, fungi and birds

Here and there in the reserve there is plenty of dead wood in various stages of decomposition. Many threatened and specialized species thrive in and on the dead wood. Among the fungi, there are, for example, the pine weevil, spruce weevil, border weevil, black and orange thorn fungus. Several specimens of the stately coral lichen have also been found in the reserve. It usually grows on boulders and clay surfaces, but here in Siksandshöjden it is mainly found on deciduous trees. The fastidious lichen only grows where there has been forest for a long time. The three-toed woodpecker is one of the birds that feast on all the beetle larvae that live in the dead wood. Goshawks nest in the area. Little grebes have been seen in Klosstjärnen and Kulltjärnen, while Eurasian bitterns are regular visitors to Hälltjärnen.

Hälltjärns mines

The area was still completely roadless in the 1950s. Only horse-drawn carriage roads and a path crossed Siksjöhöjden. Just west of Hälltjärnen are the remains of the Hälltjärns mines. There is little information about the mining operations, which were closed in 1908. Well hidden in the forest, the observant will find mine holes, piles of scrap stone and a building site. Hidden in the forest are also some coal bunkers that are the remains of milas where charcoal was made for the local smelters.

Accessibility

Siksandshöjden belongs to level 1 in the county administrative board's leveling of the county's nature reserves, which means that the reserve has a wilderness character and lacks outdoor recreation facilities.