Vänga Mosse Trail
Vänga, Borås
The trail over the raised bog in Vänga offers easy and lovely walks of up to 5 kilometres long depending on how you choose to walk the loop. Some of it is accessible, on wide wooden boardwalks over the bog.
Quick facts
Length: 4.9 km
Timing: approx. 1.5 hours
Difficulty: easy
Terrain: wide wooden boardwalks, country roads and gravelled roads.
A raised bog with a rich birdlife
The Vänga Mosse Trail is a beautiful and easy walk along boardwalks. There’s a rich birdlife in the area, with herons, cranes and wild ducks. Visiting the bird watching tower will give you a good view of the birds and the whole of the bog. Way back in time Vänga mosse was a glacial lake that gradually filled up with peat to become a raised bog. The first map the moss is marked on is from 1646. Vänga Mosse has changed a lot in the last 100 years. From being a more or less open bog parts of it have filled in again. The peat layer is an average of 4 metres thick and under that there’s a sand and gravel bottom. The ‘bog islands’ in the moss are build ups of glacial river sediment.
The trail over the raised bog in Vänga offers easy and lovely walks of up to 5 kilometres long depending on how you choose to walk the loop. Some of it is accessible, on wide wooden boardwalks over the bog.
Photographer: Lukasz Warzecha
Perfect for family outings
At Vänga Mosse, children can spot exciting birds from the bird tower or look for small lizards at the edge of the marsh, where there are quite a lot in late summer. The trail is pram-friendly and most of it is along a wide wooden boardwalk. 500 metres from the trail is Vänga Mill where you can enjoy refreshments in the leafy surroundings, right next to the rippling water. The old village mill has been around since the mid-19th century and is still in use. Flour is ground there in the same way it has always been, and is then used in the bakery and café next door. There is also a living industrial museum where you can learn more about how the flour is ground.
Need some place to stay? There are several comfortable accommodations in central Borås and about 15 minutes from the Vänga Moss hiking trail you will find the campsite Borås Camping & Hostel.
Photographer: Lukasz Warzecha
Fact about the trail
Length:
From 2.3 kilometres to 4.9 kilometres depending on which walk you decide to do. The round walk starting and finishing at the west car park is 2.3 kilometres. If you walk that loop plus the boardwalk to the east car park that is 4.9 kilometres in total.
Approximate times:
The trail takes between 30 and 90 minutes depending on which you decide to walk. Stops are not included.
Marking:
The trail is marked with wooden signs with the text "Vängaleden".
Level of difficulty:
The trail is classed as easy and is of a very high standard. There’s a shorter 1.8 km walk which is accessible, and one of the bird watching towers is also accessible. The trail is on flat ground, mostly along wooden boardwalks, with some shorter sections on country roads and gravelled roads.
Photographer: Lukasz Warzecha
Start and end:
The main entrance for the nature reserves and the trail is in the east car park, where one of the bird watching towers is also found. The Solgärdet bus stop (600 metres from the trail) is regularly served by buses from Borås. You can also start your hike from the west entrance, where there is a smaller car park right next to the trail and the Vänga church bus stop directly on the trail, 600 metres from the western starting point.
How to get here:
Vänga Mosse is just under half an hour’s drive from the centre of Borås. It can also easily be reached by bus from Borås travel centre, in 35 minutes. The nearest bus stop is Vänga church, 700 metres from the trail. From Gothenburg it takes around one hour to drive and one and a half hours by bus.
Map:
You can get a map of the trail from Tourist Information Centres in Sjuhärad. A map and information board with folders have also been erected in both car parks. There’s a digital map of the trail on Google Maps.
