Bohusleden
Bohusleden is a national trail which is around 350 kilometres long. It is divided into 27 stages. Almost all of the stages are in Västra Götaland in Sweden, though it begins in Älvsåker which is in Halland region, slightly south of Gothenburg, and finishes in Strömstad near the Norwegian border. There is a bridge at Älgafallet (stage 23) which allows you to step over into Norway if you wish to do so.
I have previously hiked stages 1 through 6, all of which are easily accessible from Gothenburg using public transport. Stage 7 is where that starts to get a little more tricky as you get further from large population centres, and from stage 8 it gets trickier still as the trail gets more remote, though with a couple of other stages which can be reached from Uddevalla or Strömstad.
Getting to Grandalen
I decided to hike this stage from Grandalen to Fontin, heading south rather than north. This was because it was logistically easier. Fontin is only a couple of kilometres from Kungälv, which is well served by public transport, whereas there are only a few buses each day to and from Grandalen, with the final one leaving at 17:07. If you miss the bus, you can look forward to an expensive Uber trip (assuming you can get a driver to head out that way) or an additional 6 kilometre walk to Diseröd to a transport hub.
In order to get from Gothenburg to Grandalen at a reasonable starting time, take the 321 Stenungsund bus as far as Kungälv, where you catch the 308 bus to Grandalen at 8:25am, arriving at 8:48am. If you miss any connections, your next bus to Grandalen is not until 13:00. Luckily(?) I woke up before 6:00am, so was able to get a tram to central Gothenburg in plenty of time. There were only 3 people on the bus to Grandalen, and one got off at an industrial estate on the edge of Kungälv, so it was just me and one guy with a big backpack.
Finding the trail
This is one of the reasons that I decided to write this blog post. That, and the views from Aleklätten. The bus drops you off at Grandalen bus stop, and there is an information board very close by. Unfortunately this board does not tell you anything at all about Bohusleden, only about fishing. The West Sweden Trails website does not tell you where the trail is in relation to the bus stop, and Gemini told me that the trail intersects with the road the bus stops at (it does not) and to look for the orange markers (none were visible from the bus stop). I decided to follow the other guy, at a suitable distance so he didn’t think I was stalking him. After a hundred metres or so I realised this was heading north, and I should be heading south somehow, so I turned around, went back to the bus stop, and headed right at the crossroads. If you are looking at the road signs, one points to Diseröd and the other to Jörlanda. Turn right and follow the sign to Jörlanda. After a short distance on the road you will see trail markers, and then find the noticeboard marking the stage start/ end, off the right-hand side of the road. To head south for etapp 7, cross the road and follow the signs.
Grandalen to Fontin
I found hiking this route in this direction to be quite easy. There is a bit of up-and-down near the start of the trail, but it is not overly steep anywhere. In this direction it is also a net downhill, and the final kilometres are largely a nice downhill through Fontins nature reserve. It also helped that the temperature was around 18 – 20 degrees Celsius on the day of the hike, which was much more comfortable than the 27 degrees or so when I hiked the much hillier Hyssnaleden. It was also much more comfortable having only a daypack with a total weight of around 3 to 4 kilograms rather than 12 kilograms, and with no shortage of water.
You will encounter Dalens hembygdsgård between 1.5 and 2 kilometres into the walk. It promises a water tap and WC. Do not waste time on this detour unless you have checked in advance that this will be open. The cake is a lie. I wandered down to it and spent some time trying to enter a few of the buildings, including the WC. There was a sign saying there was one, but the doors were firmly locked. I didn’t see a tap, but as it wasn’t my main focus I may have missed it.
The path then heads uphill a little from there, but it is not too strenuous. You walk through a mix of fully forested areas, forest roads, and a few shorter sections on asphalt roads or even across grassy areas on the edges of farmland.
I got briefly lost at around 3.5 kilometres in, where a forested section had sent me round in a small circle like some freaky Blair Witch thing (or, more likely, my inability to follow signs) and I hiked back the way I had come until I was sure I was heading the wrong way. I should have asked the two young women I passed which way they were going (as a couple with a gorgeous dog did ask me near Fontins) but I was a bit too embarrassed to admit to my complete lack of ability to know whether I had just been there 5 minutes beforehand. I caught up with them on one of the road sections, and having them in sight meant I didn’t have to keep my eyes peeled for the turn off the road, and I passed them in the next forest section. They sat down and took a rest in the field just outside, and I assumed I wouldn’t see them again.
Around 6.5 kilometres into the hike, you will encounter Romesjön. I was very excited to see a sign saying essentially “Please don’t empty your caravan toilet waste into our latrine” because it meant there was a portaloo at the lake. In some places in Sweden they will put portaloos at popular bathing spots only for “the season”, which is usually the first full week in July until the middle of August. I was very happy about this as usually there would not be toilet facilities again until Fontin where the stage ends. The lake was very pretty. A father and son were fishing from the pier, but it was otherwise quiet. I ate a sandwich whilst sitting at a picnic bench overlooking the lake, before heading onwards through meadowland along the side of the lake then back into forest.
The path continues on a largely flat but slightly uphill trajectory, through the same mix of mainly forest but with some farmland sections. The signage was pretty good. Around 12.5 kilometres into the hike, I reached the sign pointing to Aleklätten. I’d watched a video series about a Danish guy’s 10-day hike along Bohusleden and he had decided not to make the detour. However, he was covering a lot more kilometres per day than myself, and with a 16kg pack, so maybe it wasn’t worth it for him. I, however, was making really good time and felt I could spare the 1.6km. I had to clamber over a few fallen trees to get up the path, but the views from the top were breathtaking. There was also a wind shelter. I took some photos, ate another sandwich, and chilled for a bit enjoying the vista before heading down and completing the final 6 or so kilometres. On the way down, I bumped into the young women for a third time, which elicited a “Hej igen”. I said “Det är vackert.” but received no further response. Whether that was due to disliking making small talk with strangers, or because what I said was completely incomprehensible, I have no idea.
The final stretch take you into Fontins nature reserve and the stage ends beside Svarte Mosse and the motionscentralen. There were a lot of people once you got into Fontins, mainly following the 5km or 2.5km tracks, though I did also encounter a few people on the 10 km route. Previous to this I had only encountered the two ladies, a runner, and one guy on a mountain bike. I made use of the facilities at the motionscentral, drank some more water (unlike Hyssnaleden I had taken more water than I needed), sent a few messages, then strolled the 2 kilometres downhill to Fars Hatt bus stop to get the bus back to Gothenburg.
Final Thoughts
I really enjoyed this hike. It doesn’t take you past as many lakes as some others I have been on, but it was quiet, fairly easy going, and had a really nice feel to it. The hike is logistically easier going from Grandalen to Fontin, particularly if you are reliant on public transport. However, it did feel a little odd hiking from the wilderness into a more densely populated area, and it might have felt more natural to head in the other direction – hiking into the great wilderness. Grandalen is where the “true” wilderness of Svartedalen begins. Stages 8 to 11 are largely inaccessible via public transport, so are best done using two cars, or as a multi-day trek including camping. Or if you are prepared to do multiple stages in a day there are a couple of places where you can exit the Bohusleden and get to a Närtrafik stop, where you basically phone up Västtrafik and request a bus to come and collect you. I think I would be too embarrassed to use that option though. They are trialling including this service in the Västtrafik app and if they roll it out universally then I might make use of that option in the future
The West Sweden Trails website says that this stage is 16 kilometres long, but the signs at the start and end of the hike on the boards say it is 19 kilometres. In the end, my watch says that I hiked 19.35km, but that includes the 1.6 kilometre detour to Aleklätten, and a couple of sections where I got lost, so the actual distance is probably somewhere in between those two numbers. I had assumed it might take me 8 hours including rests as the signs said 6 – 7 hours excluding rests. However, I completed it, including rests, a couple of incidences of getting lost, and the detour to Aleklätten, in only 5 ½ hours, and with no notable damage to my feet or hydration levels.
Things to bear in mind for this hike:
- If going via public transport, make sure you don’t miss the bus or you will have a very long wait for the next one!
- When you get off the bus, locate the blue road signs, and follow the one to Jörlanda until you find the Bohusleden start/ end stage signs.
- Assume that there are no toilet or water facilities at Dalens hembygdsgård.
- If you are hiking the trail during the summer vacation period, there may be a portaloo at Ramesjön. Don’t assume it will be there, but maybe hold out for that possibility if you can, before resorting to actions that require digging a hole in the ground with a trowel. Also, it is advisable to bring toilet roll and hand sanitiser
- The trail isn’t too tricky in any sections, but hiking poles are still beneficial.
- Wear appropriate footwear, tuck your trousers into your socks, and wear long sleeves to protect your arms from the many insects that want to feed on you.
- It’s not the shortest of hikes, so make sure your pack is comfortable and don’t carry anything you don’t need.
