Campgrounds: Travelers stay in simple huts rather than tents; these are operated by the Swedish Tourist Federation (+46 84 63 21 00; www.svenskaturistforeningen.se). KE Adventure Travel (800-497-9675; www.keadventure.com) offers guided ski tours along the King’s Trail.
Activities: Cross-country skiing, wildlife viewing.
Norrfällsviken combines comfortable camping with the charm of an old High Coast fishing village.
Sweden—High Coast
NORRFÄLLSVIKEN
RECOMMENDED BY Eva Svärd
Citizens of Sweden enjoy one of the world’s most generous nationally mandated vacation policies: twenty paid vacation days from their employer and sixteen paid national holidays. In the summertime, many Swedes like to enjoy their abundant leisure time camping. “Camping’s popularity dates back to the 1930s, when the government made it law that people should have vacations,” began Eva Svärd. “At that time, they began developing camping sites; people would travel to them by bike, carrying their tent. Camping really took off around 1970; now there are nearly a thousand campgrounds around Sweden, most of them near the sea or a lake. Visitors from Germany and Holland seem to like the lakes, whereas the Swedes like the coast.”
And one area of Sweden’s 2,000-mile coastline that’s becoming increasingly popular as a camping spot is Höga Kusten, or the High Coast, which sits along the nation’s northeastern edge on the Gulf of Bothnia in Västernorrland County. The High Coast takes its name not from towering mountains, but from the fact that the land here has risen significantly—more than 2,500 feet—since the last Ice Age. (Scientists believe that the land has risen as a result of melting glaciers, which acted as a balance weight of sorts. As the weight of the glaciers decreased, the land rose . . . and continues to rise.) The landscape here is characterized by steep granite cliffs and bright-blue Baltic waters. A favorite camping spot along the High Coast is Norrfällsviken.
“Norrfällsviken was once a fishing village,” Eva continued, “and dates back more than three hundred and fifty years. There’s no longer any commercial fishing here, but many people come in the summertime for vacation. Many of the old fishermen’s homes—all neatly painted in red—are now summer cottages. The campground at Norrfällsviken is nicely situated near the sea. Open your door and you’re right on the water.”
In Sweden, camping takes on a somewhat different connotation than it does for many in North America. Some campgrounds more resemble resorts than the bare-bones facilities common on U.S. Forest Service holdings. And tent dwellers make up a minute proportion of the camping populace; according to a survey conducted in 2013 by the trade group Camping Sweden, 71 percent opt for caravans (that is, pull-behind self-contained campers), 15 percent opt for cottages; 8 percent choose motor homes, and 6 percent select tents. Though Swedish-style camping may be a bit less rustic than Americans might be used to, it is certainly popular—during the summer, more Swedes stay at campgrounds than in hotels or youth hostels. “For Swedes, the caravan is like a home away from home,” Eva added. “People may take their caravan to a campground and stay all summer. People use them like a summer cottage.” (Interestingly, there is a concept in Sweden called allemansrätt—every man’s right—which allows people to enjoy the Swedish countryside and pitch a tent pretty much wherever they choose . . . even if it happens to be on private property. As long as you’re not on farmland, not in sight of any house, and limit your stay to a night or two, you’re good to go. You’re also free to forage wild mushrooms and berries. Anything you bring into the wild, of course, should leave with you.)
By most standards, Norrfällsviken would fall into the resort category of campground. Not only are there hookups available for your caravan or RV, but also cable and satellite TV and Wi-Fi. There is a restaurant on-site and another in the nearby village; fresh bread can be delivered each morning to your campsite. If your children are along, there’s a petting zoo, regular films, and other hosted activities. You can swim in the pool, swim in the cool Baltic, play tennis, play mini golf (or full-size golf at a nearby course), or rent a bicycle to get in a ride or a boat to explore the calm waters of the surrounding archipelago. You can conclude your busy day with a dip in one of the hot tubs near the marina or a sit in the campground’s wood-fired sauna—this is Sweden, after all! Whether you’re in a caravan or a motor home or a tent, you’ll likely find your neighbors grilling their dinner—according to Eva, barbecuing is an intrinsic part of the Swedish camping tradition.
Swedes are passionate boaters, and sailing is a beloved pastime. While camping in Norrfällsviken, you’ll want to take time to get out on the water. If you’re not game to take a boat out yourself, consider boarding a regularly scheduled excursion to the island of Ulvön . . . but be prepared for the uniquely Swedish phenomenon of surströmming, or fermented herring. Fisherman have plied the waters around Ulvön since the sixteenth century for Baltic herring. The fishing season in this part of Sweden has always been short, and in the days before refrigeration, fermentation proved an economical method for preserving fish for year-round consumption. The third Thursday in August marks Ulvöregattan, or Ulvön Day, and the official decanting of the swelled tin cans of herring. The aroma is, at best, well . . . pungent. “It smells like Hell when they begin opening the tins, but the taste is much better than the smell,” Eva described, “though it’s still an acquired taste. It’s usually served with flatbread, potato slices, and cheese. You roll the bread with the other ingredients to make a sandwich.”
Some may feel the need for a burst of fresh air after the olfactory experience of surströmming. A hike up Skuleberget (Skule Mountain) should do the trick. Many Swedes consider the ascent of Skule Mountain a compulsory activity when visiting the High Coast. The trail takes you through thick pine forests and climbs toward vistas revealing surrounding mountains and islands dotting the Baltic. The top of Skule Mountain is the highest point resulting from the glacial uplift. You can enjoy a snack or lunch at the Top Cabin restaurant before heading down.
A serving of surströmming is optional.
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EVA SVÄRD is marketing manager at SCR Swedish Camping, the National Swedish Campsite Association, which represents approximately 450 campsites across the country.
If You Go
Getting There: Örnsköldsvik Airport is convenient to Norrfällsviken and the High Coast and has regular service from Stockholm via NextJet (+46 771 90 00 90; www.nextjet.se/sv).
Best Time to Visit: The campground at Norrfällsvikens is open May through October, though the best weather arrives in July and August.
Campgrounds: Norrfällsvikens Camping & Stugby (+46 0613 213 82; www.camping.se) is situated near the heart of the High Coast and has extensive amenities including beach, pool, playground, restaurant, cable and satellite TV, convenience store, sauna, hot tubs, and Wi-Fi. Sites start at 195 Swedish kronor (roughly $25 USD).
Activities: Swimming, boating, hiking, golf, tennis, sightseeing.
Arolla is the highest campground in Europe, resting at nearly 6,500 feet. Pigne d’Arolla, in the background, is 12,450 feet.
Switzerland
AROLLA
RECOMMENDED BY Laurence and Georges Reif
Mountaineers and day hikers alike have long been drawn to the spires and valleys of the Swiss Alps. And there’s no base camp that gets you closer than Camping Arolla—Europe’s highest campground.
“My wife and I have long been going to Switzerland from our home in France to climb,” Georges Reif observed. “The high valleys make the peaks very accessible. Places like Chamonix and Zermatt can be a bit crowded. They’re really ski resorts more than hiking destinations. About fifteen years ago, we discovered Arolla. There is a small ski resort there, but it’s really more given over to alpinism and hiking. The campground here rests at almost two thousand meters, and it’s the beginning point of many different trails. Every day, you can do a different hike.”
Arolla is a small hamlet in the Swiss canton of Valais, which rests at
the southern end of Val d’Hérens, an unspoiled valley along Switzerland’s border with France and Italy. The valley is flanked by two mountain peaks of more than 13,123 feet, Dent Blanche and Dent d’Hérens; the vistas here scream “Switzerland tourism poster.” Many mountains rise above Arolla, most notably Mont Collon and Pigne d’Arolla, just under and over 12,000 feet, respectively. This region of the Pennine Alps first came to international attention in 1865, when British mountaineer Edward Whymper first summited the nearby Matterhorn, which rises 9,000 feet directly above Zermatt. This was the climax of what some call the “golden age” of mountaineering, an interest in alpinism that was reflected in the growth and prominence of the Alpine Club in London. (Regrettably, four of Whymper’s fellow Alpine Club members fell to their deaths during the descent.) While the peaks around Arolla have not gained as much notoriety as Mont Blanc to the west in Chamonix and the Matterhorn in Zermatt to the east, it lies along the course of the Haute Trail, the famed hiking/backcountry-skiing path that connects the two mountains. “We have many visitors in Arolla who are hiking the Haute Trail,” Georges continued. “People who are doing the hike [which can take anywhere from eight to fourteen days] like to stop because we have showers and washing machines. It’s a chance to prepare for the remaining hike.” (Other amenities at Camping Arolla include an on-premises store where fresh bread is delivered each day at eight a.m., as well as a restaurant/pizzeria five minutes away.)
Arolla attracts both visitors who stay in camper vans and those who pitch a tent. “The camper van guests tend to stay for shorter periods, and they seem to come to enjoy the wonderful scenery,” Georges observed. “The tent campers tend to stay much longer—from ten days to three or four weeks. They are here to walk or climb, and use Arolla as a base camp.” There are dozens of day hikes that begin at or near Arolla, walks that appeal to hikers with a broad range of abilities. “If you want to get out on a glacier, there are nice flat walks that would be easy for people who are in moderately good shape,” Georges added. “There are other more technical and strenuous climbs for experienced mountaineers.” When pressed to choose a favorite, Georges paused and eventually named Pas de Chèvre. Roughly six miles in length, the Pas de Chèvre trail leads hikers from the pastoral Val d’Hérens to the icy environs of the Cheilon Glacier . . . and back down. To reach the high point of the trail at the Pas de Chèvre, you’ll need to climb a series of ladders, known as via ferrata (“iron road” in Italian). Via ferrata provide a series of rungs, rails, and cables that permit hikers lacking technical rock-climbing experience to scale rock faces that would otherwise be beyond their skill. The Pas de Chèvre is an exhilarating hike (reaching an altitude of almost 9,400 feet), but the vistas from the summit of the pass—including the Matterhorn, the Weisshorn, and Mont Blanc de Cheilon—are more than commensurate with the effort involved. “We attract many different kinds of mountain people to Arolla,” Georges added. “Less-experienced hikers will often meet more-experienced alpinists who will take them along on more-difficult hikes and show them how to get along.” As you make your way through the mountains, you may spot chamois, a member of the goat/antelope family, springing from rock to rock.
For those who’ve graduated to mountain climbing, Arolla is equally well situated. “There are six big mountain huts accessible from the campground,” Georges explained. “People who hope to reach the summits of the neighboring mountains can hike up to the hut, stay overnight, and then complete their climb the following day and either stay in the hut on the way down or return to the campground. If visitors aren’t ready to climb on their own, there are mountain guides who can work with you. Climbing courses are also available.”
Beyond the hiking challenges and scenic wonders of Val d’Hérens, a visit to Arolla affords you a chance to partake in a bit of Swiss culture. In the nearby town of Evolène, you can sample local dairy specialties like Raclette du Valais, a cow’s-milk cheese that’s served by warming the cheese round by a fire and then scraping the melted cheese onto a plate. Raclette is usually served with gherkins, onions, rye bread, and ham. (Fondue is also available, of course.) Another special tradition in Val d’Hérens that you might wish to observe is cow fighting. The region is home to the Hérens breed of cows, which naturally fight each other to gain dominance over the herd. Their feisty behavior is especially in evidence in June, when the animals move to mountain pastures; during this time, festivals are organized where the cows will square off to determine which animal will become La Reine des Reines—that is, “Queen of the Queens.” (These are not fights to the death; the cows’ horns are blunted, and the battles are mostly shoving matches.)
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LAURENCE AND GEORGES REIF have been campers and mountaineers for more than thirty years. They enjoy hiking, climbing, alpinism, and ski touring. Before acquiring Camping Arolla in 2014, Laurence and Georges managed a campsite and a mountain hut in France.
If You Go
Getting There: Geneva is the nearest large airport to Arolla (roughly two and a half hours) and is served by most major international carriers.
Best Time to Visit: Camping Arolla is open from mid-June through mid-September.
Campgrounds: Camping Arolla (+41 27 283 22 95; www.camping-arolla.com) has both tent and camper van sites with many amenities, including hot showers, washing machines, and Wi-Fi. A site for two campers will run approximately €20.
Activities: Hiking, mountaineering.
Big Bend National Park blends expansive desert terrain with rugged mountains you might not expect in Texas.
Texas
BIG BEND NATIONAL PARK
RECOMMENDED BY David Elkowitz
Deep in the heart of West Texas rests Big Bend National Park, a place that defies easy classification . . . but may very well make you reconsider the way you think about the Lone Star State.
“It’s hard to characterize Big Bend,” David Elkowitz began, “because there’s such a diversity of habitats. As you drive in from the north entrance you begin to see the southern end of the Rocky Mountains in the U.S., peaks that reach almost eight thousand feet. An hour’s drive to the south, you have the Rio Grande, separating Texas from Mexico. Through much of the park, you have desert habitat, with creosote bush, mesquite, and many varieties of cactus. A number of avian flight paths intersect here, so there’s excellent birding, including many rare species passing through. There’s also a diversity of wildlife that ranges from black bear to javelina (which resemble smallish wild boars, though are a quite distinct species) to mountain lion. There are a number of fine day hikes and backcountry overnight hikes, even the chance to combine off-road driving or river rafting with backcountry exploration. If there’s a unifying element to the many sides of Big Bend, I’d say it’s that they’re all wild, remote, and beautiful.”
“Everything’s bigger in Texas,” as the old saw goes, and this aphorism certainly speaks to the grand, open spaces of Big Bend. The park encompasses more than 800,000 acres, extending north from the point where the Rio Grande turns to the northeast before its long, meandering southeastern course to the Gulf of Mexico; the turn is the “big bend.” One hundred eighteen miles of the river flow along the southern boundary of the park. The riparian zone along the Rio Grande provides critical habitats for a variety of plant and animal life. Much of the midsection of the park is given over to desert; in fact, Big Bend encompasses the largest protected swath of the Chihuahuan Desert in the United States. The Chisos Mountains dominate the northern side of the park, rising abruptly, some five thousand feet from the desert. Thanks to their elevation, the Chisos attract a bit more moisture than the surrounding environs and support different flora than is found in other parts of the park, including aspen, Arizona cypress, ponderosa pine, and madrone. The elevation also makes for cooler temperatures, and the Chisos region attracts many of Big Bend’s bipedal visitors who are leery of the desert heat.
Most national parks, by their very nature, are a bit off the grid. Perhaps no park in the Lower 48 is furth
er afield than Big Bend—the nearest airport with commercial flights is in Midland/Odessa, 235 miles to the northeast. Most visitors who make the effort to come this far stay for a while, and there are plenty of activities to make the trip worthwhile. “We have two hundred miles of established, well-cared-for trails,” Dave continued, “from modest hikes well-suited for families to several rigorous multiday walks.” A few of Dave’s favorite day hikes are the Lost Mine, Window, Mule Ears Spring, and South Rim Trails. “For the modest amount of effort it takes (4.8 miles round-trip), Lost Mine (in the Chisos) gives you a tremendous view out over the park into Mexico—and the first southern vantage point is only a mile up the trail! The Window Trail, also in the Chisos, showcases a little more variety in terms of ecosystems. It starts in high country, going through scrub vegetation with great mountain views, and slowly drops down into a shady canyon. At the bottom of the trail is the window, a slot in the canyon where there’s a steep drop-off; the whole Chisos Basin drains through here. Javelina, gray fox, and bear are sometimes seen on this trail. Mule Ears Spring (on the west side of the park) brings you across several arroyos to the spring, which looks like a Japanese garden against the dry surroundings. The ‘mule ears’ are a pair of peaks behind the spring that lead you to this little oasis.”
There are three campgrounds operated by the park service in Big Bend: Rio Grande, Chisos Basin, and Cottonwood. Dave described the benefits of each: “Rio Grande is in the south part of the park and is well screened for tent campers by a large grove of cottonwoods. It’s very popular in wintertime, and thanks to the proximity of the river, there’s great birding. Chisos Basin is more popular in the summer, as it’s cooler (temperatures in the eighties), being at an elevation of fifty-four hundred feet. Cottonwood is on the west side of the park in the desert. It’s smaller and quieter, like a little oasis. Big Bend also offers a different kind of camping option—one hundred sixteen backcountry sites that you can drive into. Some you can reach with a car, some with a two-wheel-drive pickup, some require a four-wheel-drive. You have to bring everything you need along (including water) and take it back out, but you’re pretty certain of having solitude.”
Fifty Places to Camp Before You Die Page 17