Hiking Sweden’s Jämtland Triangle in August

Crowberries and blueberries, trails bordered by purple mountain heather, streams with water clear enough to drink from, late sunsets and falling asleep before the stars appear… If that all sounds good, then the Jämtland Triangle is one of my best hiking recommendations for you in Sweden.

With 47 kilometres of well-maintained trail over 3 days – and mountain stations each evening for warmth, food, and a proper bed – you can think of the Jämtland Triangle as the Kungsleden’s short, sweet, and comfortable cousin.

Is the Jämtland Triangle worth doing? We certainly thought so. If you want an easier version of the Kungsleden with lighter packs, the Jämtland Triangle is a great choice for a multi-day hike in Sweden.

The start and end point of the Jamtland Triangle is Storulvån, but you need to choose if you want to hike in the direction of Sylarna or Blahammern on the first day. We chose Sylarna, and this felt like a good decision for us: we wanted to spend an extra day at Sylarna, and it gave us a bit more flexibility and comfort after the first day of the hike.

Here’s more about the hike, what each day looked like, and a few things we learned along the way.

About the Jämtland Triangle

• Length: 47 kilometres, divided into 3 days of 12–19 kilometres per day
• Shelter: Each day ends at an STF mountain station where you can book beds if you don’t want to bring a tent.
• Food: Storulvån and Sylarna have restaurants (Sylarna only until 2028), while Blåhammaren has a shop and meal packages. You’ll need to bring or buy lunch at the stations for each day.
• Water: Can be taken from streams.
• Maps: Calazo’s printed map, or find the route on apps like Komoot.

Day 1: Storulvån-Sylarna: 16 kilometres, 5–7 hours of hiking. Stay at STF Sylarna Mountain Station.

Day 2: Sylarna-Blåhammaren: 19 kilometres, 6–8 hours of hiking. Stay at STF Blåhammaren.

Day 3: Blåhammaren-Storulvån, 12 kilometres, 4–5 hours of hiking. Stay at STF Storulvån Mountain Station.

Day 1: Storulvån to Sylarna

The Jämtland Triangle starts and ends at Storulvån mountain station. So, how do you get to Storulvån? It’s best to get to Duved by train and book ahead on the Wänseth bus to Storulvån (the bus takes 45 minutes).

As we live in Copenhagen, we got a train to Stockholm, the sleeper train from Stockholm to Duved (we had a first-class sleeping carriage that wasn’t at all fancy, but did give us our own space and small bathroom), and then the bus to Storulvån. The bus is designed around the sleeper train departures and arrivals, so it’s not an issue if the train gets in a bit late.

“At the end of the road in the middle of the mountain world…” That’s how Storulvån is described on the STF website, and it felt pretty accurate as our mid-morning bus rolled to a stop outside the mountain station. It’s a wonderfully cozy base at the foot of the mountains, with a stream running past that’s perfect for a cool swim on summer days.

Inside, you’ll find a friendly reception, a well-stocked shop (for food, insect repellent, clothes you forgot, etc), rooms, sauna, and our favourite thing: the restaurant.

Before setting off on the hike, we took off our boots and went straight to the restaurant to see what we could pick up for that day’s lunch. Some bread rolls were available in the morning buffet, so we made up a few of these with cheese and veg and paid about 30 SEK for each. If you’re hungry and not in a rush, you could also have a full breakfast (they have waffles!) at Storulvån before you set off.

Enough about the mountain station, what about that day’s hike?

At 16 kilometres, Storulvån to Sylarna feels like a long day, but it’s not particularly technical or hilly. You just need to be able to keep walking… and walking and walking. The route features a lot of boardwalks that were easy enough for us to navigate in waterproof hiking boots, even after rain. (That said, the day after we arrived in Sylarna, heavy rain had made one river crossing near the hut a little more challenging.)

Apart from the birch forest at the very start of the hike, the route has similar scenery for much of the way, alternating between rocky ground, soft mossy ground, well-placed planks underfoot, and paths surrounded by crowberries, blueberries, and heather. There’s a shelter at the halfway point, although we’d already stopped for our sandwiches earlier 🙂

About two-thirds through the hike, Sylarna STF comes into view. “We’re basically there!” you think, but the hut stays in the distance for about another hour. After mostly being lucky with the weather so far, the rain started pouring not long after we first saw the station, which didn’t help it arrive any sooner.

But when you finally get there, warmth and comfort await…

At Sylarna, you’ll find a hot shower, a dry room for wet clothes, and a restaurant serving dinner (at least until ~2028, when the Reindeer Husbandry Law that has reduced capacity everywhere in the area will close it, out of consideration for local Sami villages).

We were in need of a break and designed our Jämtland trip to be as comfortable as possible. If there was a meal, cozy room, or easy option available, we took it with gratitude. So arriving at Sylarna was lovely.

Iain and I had a twin room to ourselves, and we booked bedding and towels ahead of time. We also booked the restaurant, which included a charcuterie board (yep), as much crusty bread and salad as we wanted, and vegetarian dhal for me and reindeer stew for Iain. If you’re vegetarian or have dietary restrictions, they are very accommodating, but try to email to let them know in advance.

Our relaxation continued into the next day, as we’d planned a “bonus day” at Sylarna STF to ideally summit Storsylen (1,762 metres above sea level) or just rest. The weather was absolutely, utterly terrible (gale-force winds and consistent rain, at temperatures around 2°C), so summiting was cancelled in favour of fika, sauna, board games, and plenty of hot drinks.

Day 2: Sylarna to Blåhammaren

The Sylarna breakfast buffet was excellent (fresh bread, waffles, lingonberry jams, etc). You can also book “lunch bags” to take with you on your hike, which we thought was great. This means you can pack a couple of sandwiches from the buffet with some trail mix and delicious chocolate brownie bites, and fill up your thermos with tea, coffee, or hot chocolate.

The hike from Sylarna to Blåhammaren was another long day (at 19 kilometres, it’s the longest of the three) but even with our weather remaining fairly terrible initially, it later cleared up and wasn’t too bad… although we had no real glimpse of sunshine all day. Such is life in the Swedish mountains!

At the halfway point, there’s a small shelter you can retreat into for lunch. Because of the horrid weather that morning, it was packed when we arrived, and we just stood inside the doorway long enough to eat our sandwiches and dry off a little.

Perhaps because of the complete lack of visibility for the first half of the day, we much preferred the scenery of the second half. It felt more varied than the Storulvån – Sylarna hike the previous day, with more undulating terrain, reindeer on ridges, wildflowers, and small areas of water to ford.

The hike includes a descent at the start of the day and two inclines (one in the first half, and the other at the end, approaching Blåhammaren), but nothing too arduous.

Around an hour from Blåhammaren, there’s a small river to ford, but luckily a trail fairy had left a plank of wood and some well-placed rocks, so our feet didn’t get wet at all. (There were probably 30 other moments where our feet were under more water, but our boots held up fine.)

Compared to Storulvån and Sylarna, STF Blåhammaren is a much more rustic building with the feel of a mountain hut. It’s full of old touches: plenty of wood, brass lampshades, binoculars and gas lamps on shelves. Unlike Sylarna, you can imagine what the Blåhammaren station looked like fifty years ago.

The Blåhammaren restaurant was popular in the past, but because of the Reindeer Husbandry Law changes in 2024 it’s now closed. We bought a dinner package to make ourselves in the kitchen, which included ingredients for a slightly odd creamy noodle dish with soya and a topping of coconut, raisins, and almonds (I’m not quite sure what cuisine this was aiming for). Then there was a blueberry powder pudding we could make ourselves.

The dinner package was definitely expensive for the quality of what you got – you could buy a Real Turmat meal for the same price and not have to cook something after a day of hiking – but we’d probably do it again. The same applies for the breakfast of crispbread, instant porridge, and the like: definitely expensive, not fantastic quality (everything has to be hiked or helicoptered in, so no surprises or complaints here), but it was a bit better than what we could buy in their shop. The tea and coffee were good, so it was nice to have access to that with the packages.

Blåhammaren almost certainly has the coolest sauna of the mountain stations on this hike (although we didn’t try the Storulvån one), with a beautiful window overlooking the mountain views.

Day 3: Blåhammaren to Storulvån

The last day of the hike! At 12 kilometres, it’s much shorter than the previous two days. And we got good weather!

The Blåhammaren to Storulvån hike is beautifully varied, passing small lakes, waterfalls and winding streams on paths surrounded by berry bushes and heather. As you get closer to Storulvån, you pass through the same birch forest as the first day.

Just after the halfway point (where there’s a shelter if you need it) there’s a river to ford. When we were there, the stepping stones had mostly disappeared underwater, so either make sure your boots are mostly watertight or change into flip flops / water shoes. Or simply go barefoot and roll up your trousers, as the slightly tentative older gentleman who followed us decided on!

Returning to Storulvån STF after the hike is heavenly. If you arrive before ~14:30, you can look forward to a varied lunch buffet; otherwise, waffles, jam, and whipped cream are available all afternoon. There are also showers and a sauna, cozy reading nooks, and a wonderful hammock by the stream for a well-earned rest (after soaking your feet in the cool water, if you so choose!)

Storulvån also seemed like a great base for other day hikes if you want to stick around another day or so – we may well return here for this reason in the future!

We arrived in time for a late lunch and had several hours to rest before our bus to Duved at 5.30pm. After getting to Duved, we’d booked a taxi through ToppTaxi to Copperhill Mountain Lodge above Åre for a few days of doing absolutely nothing. Which I will also try and write about soon!

For now, a few more details about packing and some questions we were wondering about before our trip…

What to pack for the Jämtland Triangle

We were glad we packed:

• Warm puffy jackets, even in August (we wore them for at least half of our hiking time)
• Raincoats and waterproof trousers (we wore these almost constantly)
• Trustworthy, comfortable waterproof hiking boots
• Chocolate + extra brownies from the STF stations to power our hiking legs 🙂
• Books + entertainment for lazy evenings (and rainy rest days!)
• Thick wool hiking socks (I love Darn Tough socks)
• Waterproof gloves (like Sealskinz)
• Gaiters – these helped keep our hiking trousers / waterproof trousers relatively dry and mud-free
• Sunscreen – the sun is powerful!
• Comfy clothes for the train, evenings, and relaxation days
• Hiking poles – at least I like these, Iain doesn’t seem to need them
• Compression socks to sleep in for happier calves the next day
• A map of the trail downloaded to the Komoot app. It was easy enough to follow the right path with cairns and signposts, but this was good for reassurance and working out where we were.

Questions we had, that you might too