STARRKÄRR - SKEPPLANDA

Past Starrkärr, the trail progresses into a rural environment. The countryside is wonderful and there are plenty of colorful fields on either side of the route. If you choose to go east on a detour, you’ll walk past a large field of graves. This field is located at Röbacka and continues on towards Kilanda säteri. Here you hike through a gorgeous environment, and eventually you will reach Kilanda school & church, where the parish home may be worth a look. This makes the detour well worth the longer trip. If you choose to not take the detour, however, you will instead move east and then further north towards Skepplanda.

The terrain here is a vibrant forest and it continues onto Safe Riding Roads, where a horse may occasionally show up. On this route, there are plenty of places to stop for a coffee. After a rural idyll and a hilly forest landscape, you reach the path towards Skepplanda, where Skepplanda church rises over the horizon. On the way you’ll encounter Vadbacka bridge, an old arch bridge as well as an honorable symbol for this route.

Vadbacka bridge crosses Försån. Rapid streams with a height of 40 meters are here, and they have been used since the medieval times.

The environment surrounding Vadbacka is rich with history and has many traces of time. Here lies the hometown of Skepplanda as well as the falls of Forsån, which is a most impressive sight. Furthermore, you will also find well-preserved mills that are left over from old milling and sawing operations. A trip up Stugåsberget will take you to a steep mountain slope where you will find a ship carving and a carriage figure. The ship is one of the country’s largest rock carving figures at three meters long! It also contains several interesting symbols, including a hand symbol. Right next to the rock carving is an old quarry. As always with the pilgrimage route Göta Älv, the route has varied nature and a rich environment and history. Welcome to the Vadbacka bron route.   Fun fact: Swedish fika is when you have a coffee break, usually with something sweet like a cinnamon bun. It is a phenomenon in Sweden and can be done with friends, family, coworkers, and even strangers! Everyone loves a fika.