Valle Camping is located in an area called “Vallebygden”. An area that streches along the north part of the table mountain “Billingen” 
The hills that form the landscape are mainly made up of gravel, sand and sediment from glacial rivers. This material accumulated in a glacial pit and then remained after the glacier melted. Another famous comb landscape is Skåne’s Brösarp hills.
NATURE RESERVE
Thanks to its cultural landscape and distinctive nature with rich fauna and flora, Vallebygden boasts up to 8 nature reserves. Om det är 6 eller 8 naturreservat beror lite på var man drar gränsen till Valleområdet men oavsett så finns här ett stort antal naturreservat på en relativt liten yta. The nature reserves Bockaskedeåsen-Toran, Eahagen-Öglunda ängar, Hornborgarsjön, Höjentorp-Drottningkullen, Torp, and Ökull-Borregården are all located in Skara municipality, while Lycke-Lilla Höjen and Gullakrokssjöarna are both located in Skövde municipality. There are excellent hiking trails through the nature reserves.
The hiking trails go through pastures, cultivated ditches and stone farms, groves with coniferous forests, calcareous marshes with orchids, flower meadows and lakes.
ANCIENT MONUMENTS AND FISHING
There are also ancient monuments in the area, such as rock chests, stone settlements and burial cairns. You can also fish in the many lakes if you get a fishing permit.
In early spring, thanks to the calcareous soil, there are plenty of bluebells to be found along the trails. These beautiful flowers are however protected but make excellent pictures!
CHERRY BLOSSOM
Another speciality of the area is when tens of thousands of cherry trees are in blossom along the Billings slope in spring. The most intense flowering lasts only a week or so, so it’s important to pick the right time to experience it.
Hiking in Valle: HIKING TRAILS
The area included in hiking in Valle is approximately 1,000 hectares in size and is said to have not less than 365 lakes (although this likely includes ponds as well), and thus up to 8 nature reserves.
The hiking trails in Valle have easy to medium difficulty and you can walk about 3 kilometres in an hour. Some routes may require boots or ankle boots depending on the season and weather.
One of the trails starts right at Valle Camping and you just have to put on your boots and get out of your cabin, tent, caravan, motorhome or hostel to start experiencing nature.
ÖKULL-BORREGÅRDEN
The nature reserve right next to the Valle campsite is called Ökull-Borregården and is the southernmost of the Vallebygden nature reserves. The nature reserve is about 72 hectares of which 61 are land and 11 are water.
The nature reserve contains so-called leaf groves, ridges with coniferous forests, marshes, small lakes and swamp forests with birch and alder. Plants you can find here include bride’s bread, maidenhair, ground thistle, red camomile, rosehips, hawthorn and red cornflower. There is also a marsh with several species of orchids.
The ridges largely follow the direction of movement of the ice. The most prominent of the ridges is “Getaryggen”, located east of Ökullasjön and extending about 5 km to the northeast. From here it is only a few kilometres to Varnhem and Varnhem Abbey Church with the ruins of the abbey and Kata Farm.
Dead ice pits that have become lakes
The terrain consists of a mixture of hills, small ridges, dead-ice pits (dead-ice pits) and hollows. The ridges and hills are made up of sandy gravel formed by the area’s bedrock, which consists of sandstone, alum shale, urbergine and, to some extent, limestone gravel. Many of the dead ice pits and hollows have gradually turned into lakes or marshes.
The lakes are connected to each other by a drainage system, which leads water from Grönsjön via Tjursbergsjön to Nycklasjön and Ökullasjön, and then on into Husgärdessjön (where Valle Camping is located). The limestone-rich soil has resulted in all lakes having a high pH value.
The large lakes in the reserve are Ökullasjön (16 ha) and Husgärdessjön (33 ha), both of which are less than 12 metres deep. The catchment areas of the lakes are very different in size (3 km² and 31 km² respectively). This implies a turnaround time of just under a year for Ökulla Lake and 1-2 months for Husgärdessjön.
Husgärdessjön receives water from the lake system north of the highway (Skärvalången and others), whose larger streams have their sources in the coniferous forest areas up on Billingen.
Settlement since before the Neolithic Age
The oldest known evidence of human presence in the area is a passage ditch, east of the nature reserve, dated to around 3400 BC. There are also two other Stone Age settlements in the vicinity of the nature reserve that are believed to be from the same time period. It is therefore very likely that there were settlements here before the Neolithic period.
In the Middle Ages, Ökull was a landed estate intended for the king’s maintenance and whose land belonged to the king, a so-called fiefdom. Ökull was both a royal farm and the central unit of Ökull’s (Kinda) bo (bo=the medieval name for the royal administrative districts).
In the 16th century, the manor was divided and gave rise to a village with the same name. In the 19th century, the village was merged into a manor, Ökull Manor. The lands belonging to Borregården (the monastery) probably belonged to Varnhem monastery before they became privately owned.
Hiking trail through Ökull-Borregården
The hiking trail through Ökull-Borregården is about 4 km long and you can reach it directly from the campsite. The trail is comfortable and partly tracked. There are several nice rest areas with benches along the trail.
It is also easy to reach with an extra walk several of the other hiking trails to hike in Valle from Valle camping, see the map below.
KARTA
On Skara municipality’s website you will find more information about Vander i Valle.
Respect the right of public access – “Allemansrätten”
Es kann nicht oft genug betont werden: Respektieren Sie das Recht auf Zugang zur Natur! Mit dem Recht auf Zugang zur Natur kommen Verantwortlichkeiten und Pflichten. Zum Beispiel ist es nicht erlaubt, Zweige zu brechen, ein Feuer bei Waldbrandgefahr zu machen oder auf dem Grundstück einer anderen Person zu wandern. Es ist gesetzlich verboten, in einem Feld mit wachsenden Pflanzen zu gehen, ein Motorfahrzeug abseits der Straße zu fahren oder Vogelnester oder Eier zu nehmen.
In Naturschutzgebieten gelten auch andere Regeln. Zum Beispiel ist es nicht erlaubt, Blumen zu pflücken, und man darf nur auf gebauten Feuerstellen Feuer machen. Schilder zeigen die speziellen Regeln, die in verschiedenen Schutzgebieten gelten.
For Ökull-Borregården the following applies
You are NOT allowed to…
- Pflanzen, Pilze, Moose und Flechten pflücken oder ausgraben. Es ist jedoch erlaubt, Beeren und Pilze zu sammeln.
- collecting, destroying or damaging dead trees, branches and windfalls
- bring an unleashed dog
- Ein Motorfahrzeug führen. Die Besitzer der Sommerhäuser, die vom Naturschutzgebiet umgeben sind, haben jedoch das Recht, Motorfahrzeuge auf der Schotterstraße zu fahren, die entlang der östlichen Seite des Ökulla-Sees im Naturschutzgebiet verläuft.
- park, camp, set up a caravan or motorhome
- cycling, except on the gravel road along the east side of Ökulla Lake
- make a fire
- organise military exercises
- put up a board, poster or other disturbing device.
It is prohibited without the permission of the County Administrative Board to
- Wirbellose sammeln. Dies gilt nicht für die Sammlung von Krebsen und Tambin, die Organisation von großen Sportwettkämpfen, Lagern, ähnlichen Aktivitäten oder großen Versammlungen.
Read more about the right of public access on the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency’s website and read more about the Ökull-borregården nature reserve on the County Administrative Board’s website.
Valle Camping is located on private land outside the nature reserves and our camping rules apply.
Problems along the way?
Bitte beachten Sie, dass obwohl einer der “Wandern im Tal” -Wege vom Campingplatz aus startet, es nicht der Campingplatz ist, der den Weg instand hält. Wenn Sie etwas sehen, das nicht funktioniert, oder Verbesserungs- und Ergänzungsvorschläge haben, wenden Sie sich bitte an die Gemeinde Skara, das Kontaktzentrum, Telefon +46511-320 00, oder melden Sie einen Fehler über die Website skara.se/felanmalan.
Accommodation in Valle
The hiking trails
Flämsjön (ca 9 km)
The varied walk around Lake Flämsjön is just over 9 kilometers long. Park at Flämslätt, by the road west of Öglunda or north of Eggby, at Eahagen’s parking lot. The path goes through pastures with oak and broadleaf forest. At Acksjön, you pass Remningstorp’s arboretum, an exciting and well-signposted collection of trees from the entire northern hemisphere. Between Flämsjön and Ämten you walk on a narrow moraine ridge. East of Lake Flämsjön, the trail continues on winding paths and roads in the slightly hilly landscape.
Jättadalen (ca 5 km)
The path is quite steep up to the crest of Billingen. Once up on the diabase slope, you have a breathtaking view of Valle. Stop at the Offerkällan and drink cold and fresh water. There is a large parking lot just north of Öglunda church.
Torp (ca 3 km)
From the road between Varnhem and Öglunda, you walk up a gentle slope past Torps farm, where the path splits. You continue up through pastures and leafy groves, with ever wider views of the landscape below. Small parking space by the road.
Höjentorp (ca 3 km)
The hiking trail starts at the parking lot west of the castle ruins. You who are in a wheelchair can park at Höjentorp’s Kungsgård to reach the castle ruins by Trädgårdssjön via a wooden bridge The path continues on a partially paved path through broadleaf and mixed forests, where the many lakes are never far away.
Drottningkullen (2 – 3 km)
The paths at Drottningkullen are suitable for shorter excursions. The terrain is varied and hilly with a lot of slopes. Drottningkullen is extra powerful, from where you have views towards Varnhem. Parking space by the road.
Ökull (ca 4 km)
Here you can go directly from Valle Camping. From here, a partially paved path leads into the reserve. The hike offers birch and alder swamp forests, lakes, marshes, open pastures and leafy groves. If you want to sit down and rest for a while, enjoy the view or just take a break, you will find several rest areas with benches along the path. The trail is partly hilly.
Ljungstorp (ca 4 – 5 km)
Ljungstorp village center is a suitable starting point. From here, the path leads up Billingen to the ledge above Ljungstorp’s village. In clear weather you can see over Vallebygden, Hornborgasjön and all the way to Kinnekulle. On the way down from the diabase slope, the path passes a giant fir, the Ambjörntorpsgranen. You can follow the road through Ljungstorp back to the settlement or continue the hiking trail further to Torp.
From Skara municipality’s map
