Skutberget
Skutberget is located 7 kilometers west of Karlstad center and offers both recreation and activities for all ages and interests. There are swimming and playgrounds, nature trails and exercise tracks in both summer and winter. There is also a campsite in the area that also offers cabin rentals.
Bath and feel good at Skutberget
The swimming area is very popular and well visited. Here there are fine cliffs, sandy beaches and adjacent large grassy areas for sunbathing, games and play. The large beach, which is directly below the large main car park, is shallow and suitable for smaller children. Part of Skutberget is also accessible with a ramp down to the water.
Take the chance to combine utility with pleasure
Here there are several nice exercise tracks of varying lengths so that everyone can find a suitable challenge. They are beautifully drawn through parts of the forest and sometimes with a view of Lake Vänern. The electric light trails are 800 meters, 3.5 kilometers and 5 kilometers long, and the lights go out there at 10 p.m. In addition, there are exercise tracks of 7.5 and 10 km as well as a slightly tougher training track of 10 km for those who want to challenge themselves a little extra. In the center of Skutberget there is a fitness center with the possibility to change and shower and it is free of charge and open to everyone.
Disc golf in a beautiful landscape
There is also the opportunity to play disc golf on one of Sweden’s 4‑star disc golf courses with eighteen holes spread over the area. It costs nothing and does not need to be booked. At the nearby First Camp Skutberget campsite, you can also buy or rent discs if you don’t have your own.
Mountain biking in Skutberget’s forests
If you are keen to experience nature on two wheels, there is a mountain bike track at the Skutberget outdoor area. The course is approx. 8.5 km long in varying terrain and the degree of difficulty is approximately at the medium level. The starting point is near the large car park at the entrance to the campsite.
Adventure golf for everyone
If you want to play mini golf, there is an EU-class adventure course with 18 holes that was built in 2016. The unique courses that are fun for both young and old golf enthusiasts can be found at the First Camp Karlstad campsite.
Put on your hiking boots
If you fancy a slightly longer hiking trip, you can start at Skutberget and set your direction towards Kil. The trail is 22 kilometers long and stretches via the nature reserves Sörmon and Högemon on to the Kilsravinerna and then Kils society. The three nature reserves are of different characters and offer an exciting experience.
Mariebergskogen & Naturum
A city park forever
Mariebergsskogen has an interesting history. When Dr. Conrad Höök passed away in 1896, his sister Ebba Treffenberg was the only heir. Ebba found in the bequests a note that Conrad wanted Mariebergsskogen to be donated to the city in exchange for a guarantee for its future stock and care. The sister wrote a letter of gift to the city of Karlstad so that the forest could be saved for future generations. The opening took place with pomp and circumstance in 1925, where the idea was to create an open-air museum with cultural buildings and the opportunity to celebrate various holidays. Eventually, a dance floor and an open-air theater were built, which became very popular. Each time leaves its mark on Mariebergsskogen — Karlstad’s city park, now and forever.
The Open Air Museum
During industrialism, old traditions had to give way to new values and ways of thinking. In order to preserve the cultural buildings, Wilhelm Welin, Värmland’s Antiquities and Museum Association, suggested that a Värmland Skansen should be created and in 1925 the open-air museum was inaugurated. There are now various cultural buildings here — from farms and cottages to chapels and sheds. The windmill, the weather saw and the gristmill feel more current than ever and provide an interesting angle with a historical perspective on renewable energy. Mariebergsskogen is filled with places that show and tell about what it was like in the past. On a trip with the Conrad Höök train you will find out more, or read the signs on the buildings during your own walk and feel the wings of history.
The animal park Lillskogen
Swedish land breeds of all kinds live in the zoo. Cows, ponies, pigs, goats, sheep, rabbits and ducks await your visit. The hens run free and splash in the gravel on the stable hill. And in the spring you have the chance to see the newborn baby animals. Lillskogen is open every day, all year round.
Naturum Värmland
Curious about nature? Take a look into the nature center located in the middle of the Klarälvs delta with water and forest right inside the knot. Here you can hear the mysterious sounds of fish, feel bear fur and learn about our most common birds. Or watch a film about the animals in the Värmland forests. We arrange nature walks and lectures and always have various temporary exhibitions going on. Naturum Värmland is open every day, all year round.
The forest
The forest in Mariebergsskogen is something out of the ordinary and it changes character depending on the weather, season and time of day. We hear the song of the black tit in the spring greenery and see the squirrels playing among the mighty pines in the summer. Autumn offers the autumn colors of blueberry rice and in winter we enjoy the hoar frost on winter trees. The area has high natural values and is cared for in a way that focuses on biodiversity. There are a lot of dead trees that are allowed to remain as vital habitat for many small insects and birds. In order to spare the sensitive forest land, it is good to stay on already trodden paths when hiking. From the forest, you can walk further out across the open coastal meadows.
The beach meadows
Marieberg’s beach meadows offer expansive views. Grazing cows create habitat for tufted whip and meadowlark. In summer, we see the osprey diving and among all the shades of green of the meadow, you can see stand-lysing and torch flowers. Fog and frost in the reeds offer beautiful motifs at the colder time of the year. Around the beach meadows runs a three-kilometer hiking trail that offers adventure over logs and stones. There you can see beaver tracks. You can also choose to walk just under a kilometer on Lilla runda, which is paved and where there are a few benches for a moment’s rest. You can get to the bird tower’s first floor with a wheelchair and pram.
Gardens
A cultural-historical environment is created around Marieberg’s manor with kitchen and ornamental plants we found in price lists, plant and seed catalogs from Karlstad around 1920–1935. At Spikgården, the 19th-century cottage from Norra Finnskoga, we are today showing roses that have existed for a long time in Värmland and Dalarna together with apple varieties and perennials. In the Lek-trädgården, the senses are tickled on the theme of music, literature and art with exciting play in beautiful green rooms. In the play forest there is Hybelejen’s mill among trees and green small hills. In the middle ripples the fountain where an ice rink is washed in winter. In the Children’s kitchen garden, you can see culturally interesting kitchen plants from Karlstad, such as the pea “Nisse på Tomta”. Feel free to come and look at the plantations and let yourself be inspired. Check back often, and you’ll see it grow and thrive.
A pleasant park
Mariebergsskogen is located just over a kilometer from the center, by one of Karlstad’s many Vänerviks. It is a full 78 hectares and the nature trail around the beach meadows is approximately 3 km.
In order for Mariebergsskogen to be a pleasant park for everyone, there are some simple and important rules of thumb.
Alsters herrgård — Gustaf Frödings minnesgård
Gustaf Frödings minnesgård i naturskön miljö med utsikt över Vänern, 8 km öster om Karlstad.
Alsters herrgård, Gustaf Frödings minnesgård, är en 1700-talsherrgård i vacker naturmiljö med utsikt över Vänern och är mest känd som diktaren Gustaf Frödings födelsehem. Den kände och folkkäre skalden föddes här 1860. Här finns café och restaurang, i flyglarna finns butiker, galleri och utställningar. På huvudbyggnadens övervåning finns en utställning om Gustaf Fröding som kan upplevas om man följer med på en av de allmänna visningarna som dagligen erbjuds. I den vackra utemiljön runt herrgården och herrgårdsparken finns naturstigar och vandringsleder i varierande längd.
Alsters herrgårdscafé profileras av svensk husmanskost och hembakat kaffebröd och erbjuder dagligen både kaffe och lunch under sommarsäsongen.
Västra flygeln är ett slöjdens hus där det på nedre plan finns en högkvalitativ slöjd- och hantverksbutik med noga utvalda slöjdare. På övre plan finns föreningen Länshemslöjden i Värmland som visar utställningar och har kursverksamhet.
I Östra flygeln hittar du en herrgårdsbutik med framförallt Frödinglitteratur men också souvenirer, mat och hantverk. I flygeln finns också ett konstgalleri som presenterar olika utställningar.
Under sommaren arrangeras olika program som musik, dans, teater, föredrag och lyrikuppläsning. Mest uppskattade är höst- och julmarknad med värmländska produkter inom slöjd och livsmedel.