Bikepacking Sweden’s Champagne Gravel
Story by Chris Hunt / Photos by Ray Wood
The Unionsleden is a brand new 350km cycle route connecting Moss in Norway to Karlstad in Sweden, designed to celebrate the former union between the two nations. I join the route’s designer to explore the forests, lakes and endless gravel roads in the province of Dasland in the west of Sweden.
There’s a delicious crunch rippling beneath my tyres, reassuring of the connection between rubber and the fine cinder gravel. Either side, a blend of spruce, pine and birch whizzes past. Buffered by a network of miles of dense forest, it is gloriously silent — but for the tapping of a distant woodpecker, and the rippling gravel of course.
I’m exploring the gravel roads of northern Dalsland – a department of West Sweden comprised of a patchwork of water and a shared border with Norway. Joined by Crister Blume, who works to develop opportunities in outdoor adventure with the local tourism board, it’s still early as he tells me there's high chance of moose. My eyes stay peeled.
Under the cover of forest, through flowing bends and gradually undulating lumps, this network of gravel roads is seemingly endless. Buildings are sparsely placed, but the red wooden structures, complete with a frame roofs and perfect white detailing, sets the scene for what feels like a quintessential Scandinavian postcard.
Dalsland is a patchwork of water, in fact more than twenty percent of it is blue. There are more than 1,000 lakes here and in the east of the district, lies the shores of lake Vänern, which at 140km in length an a surface are of 5,650 km², is the largest lake within the European Union. Running north to south, these rift lakes were created by vast glacial melt more than 10,000 years ago and act as a visual reminder of the last ice age.
As part of a long weekend, I’m riding a series of loops and lines, designed by Crister in order to showcase the region. But unlike most of my bikepacking journeys, instead of sleeping out under the stars in some ambiguously owned common land, we’ll be laying our heads down in a series of unique, independently owned accommodations, each with their own stories to tell.
We pull into a driveway lined with red brick buildings, a nod to the industrial history of the small remote town of Fengersfors. An old mill and paper factory, set in the heart of the forest. Today, under the name Not Quite, there’s a pottery mill, exhibition space, events centre and, discovered by our noses before our eyes, an artisan bakery, perfect for sampling the Swedish fika culture.
‘What do you call this in England?’ Crister asks me, pointing to a trolly of stacked trays of intricately folded, freshly baked pastries. The warm aroma of fresh herbs, cardamon and vanilla in the room. ‘These are the typical components of fika, and there’s always coffee.’ he smiles and asks for two.
In 2016, Crister started a route building project to celebrate the former union between Sweden and Norway. In 2023, he launched what is now known as the Unionsleden, a 350km journey that would connect Moss where the union had been established in 1814 and Karlstad, where it dissolved in 1905.
‘The goal has always been to create a safe and attractive bike route for tourism development,’ explains Crister as I pour the coffee. ‘To take people on a journey that will enable them to explore what lies between these two cities.’
Satiated, we push off to continue on our route, this time heading west along the Unionsleden, which passes the gates of Not Quite, and straight into what proves itself to be the longest climb of the route. As we reach the top and spin through our lower gears for a moment of respite, we’re slowly passed by two courteous wide overtaking vehicle. Crister apologises for the traffic on the road and I realise these are the only vehicles we’ve met all day. ‘It’s usually much quieter than this,’ he protests. Ray and I share a glance, both from the UK, we’re both accustomed to putting up with close passes and hurled abuse from an endless stream of traffic. We bank left, leaving the tarmac behind us, entering once again into the cover of trees via a short rocky descent.
At the bottom a metal gate blocks our path. Unlike the UK though, where exploring off-road often feels more like a game of cat and mouse between rider and land owner, here, nature is ours to experience by law. Allemensratten as it’s known here is Sweden’s Right to Roam, allowing anyone free access to all land.
‘Riding gravel in Sweden provides a lot of accessibility as you’re allowed to ride almost everything there is, even private roads,’ Crister tells me. ‘Our freedom to roam provides unique access to all of the great outdoors and although just a small part of west Sweden, this area has a huge network of gravel roads, offering a lot of riding without repeating the same roads or trails.’
The riding here is a far cry from the technical rocky bridleways, stiles or gates and you can forget any risk of bog. Gravel, but not like we know it in the UK. This is more akin to the marketing imagery we see from bike brands. Fast rolling and clean, this is champagne gravel and there’s plenty of it.
Despite the Allemensratten, in creating the Unionsleden, on which they’d eventually encourage thousands of riders to use, Crister felt it important to receive land owner permissions for access. And I wonder how this compares to my own experiences in the UK.
‘There’s no problem here. Almost all of the time, they realise it’s a good thing for everyone,’ he tells me. ‘For the health of the population and also for the economy.’
Along the route, there are a handful of brand new route markers signposting the Unionsleden as well as illustrated maps with the full route for reference. To the ring of 1 million euros, it’s clearly a project taken seriously by local councils and the tourism board alike, with obvious benefit to the local economy. Still, we pass just a handful of other gravel cyclists, which has me question then the success of the campaign.
‘2023 is actually the first year we’re able to count visitors on the route and this summer there’s been around 6000 cyclists,’ Crister tells me. ‘But it’s also opened up these gravel roads to locals getting around every day. Local people are now using their bikes to meet with their friends and go for fika — they would have never have done that before the Unionsleden.’
While the trend of riding drop bar bikes with added rubber continues to grasp the international cycle industry, in Sweden, despite its seemingly gravel tailored terrain, it’s early days.
‘Gravel here is a new discipline. It used to be mostly mountain bikers, so we’re just in the cradle of gravel riding,’ says Crister. ‘But no other type of cycling gets you closer to experience the true backcountry of West Sweden than a gravel bike. It’s an explorer’s best choice of bike to ride here in West Sweden and Dalsland in particular.’
Despite garnering a taste for the gravel here, with just three days in West Sweden, there’s no denying that we’ve bitten just a tiny proportion of what’s on offer here by bike. These three days have given me plenty of reason to return by bike and otherwise, not least of all as I never did see that moose.
How to Get There
From the UK, KLM operate regular direct flights to Gothenburg. From here, we rented a car to take the two and a half hour journey to our first night’s accommodation at Billingsfors in Dalsland.
Where to Stay
There’s a vast selection of options when it comes to accommodation on the Unionsleden, which you can check out here.
We explored a relatively small region along the route and below we’ve listed the three amazing and unique places we were hosted by during our trip.
Baldersnäs Manor
Located in a historical manor house built in 1868, this is a taste of country living at its finest. With luxury rooms in the manor house, we were treated to an amazing locally sourced 5-course menu on arrival. On the shores of one of the regions many lakes, it’s a perfect place to shut off and experience nature.Dalsland Houseboat Rental
Freedom at its most visceral, these guys have taken the iconic local red cabins of the region a step further. Situated on Lelång Lake, one of the largest in the area, attached to the back of a small motor boat, where you anchor and sleep for the night is up to you. There’s also the option of visiting a floating sauna.A modern family run hotel in a 100-year old grain silo, this is a really unique place to stay. There’s an emphasis on locally sourced traditional foods and with it’s own lakeside sauna a stay here will really give you a taste of daily life in he heart of Dalsland.
Thanks to Visit Sweden and our friends at Albion for making this trip happen.