Trail (UK)

ARCTIC FOREST

TOP WALKING DESTINATIO­N: SWEDEN

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WERE IT NOT for the seas cutting into it, an almost unbroken swathe of forest would run from Scandinavi­a to Japan, into Alaska and across the northern reaches of America. This is the boreal forest, named after the Greek god of the north wind and winter. In Russia it's called the taiga.

A land of ancient coniferous forests and rivers, the boreal is to many the essence of pure wilderness: the home of the Saami people, bushcraft expert Ray Mears considers it his favourite of all environmen­ts due to the bounty of resources and the purity of the solitude found there. And the place that many choose to experience it is in the northern reaches of Sweden.

Deep in Swedish Lapland is Muddus National Park, a 500 square-kilometre wilderness area near the border with Finland and Norway. Here a number of trails can be walked into prime boreal forests, ones that are accessible to novice walkers and have unmanned cabins.

The park – like much of this area of Sweden – is home to bears, lynx, hares, elk and reindeer. Then there is Hamra National Park which – while not quite Arctic – boasts many of the hallmarks of the boreal in a slightly more accessible setting.

Wherever you choose to experience it, this unique forest – the world’s most extensive biome – is a part of the planet you just have to experience. And it’s far closer than you think...

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