Svens Altare, Storehamn
Orust

The hiking trail is a nature and culture path in the Storehamn area. The word 'hamn' translates to an outlying, barren, and mountainous region in this context. Storehamn was once covered only with heather and small bushes; it's in the last hundred years that coniferous and deciduous trees have been planted. The forest is now diverse, with a significant presence of hardwood trees. Birdlife is abundant, and the floral beauty at Hålta Vatten is unique in the country. The highest point on the hiking trail, 106 meters above sea level, is called Svens Altare. There you will find a weather vane with Gunnar Sanne's ex-libris: a goose feather, a shovel, and an 'S.'

 Life stories and ruins

At eleven locations, you will find signs that tell the stories of people and their living conditions. In the area, there are traces of substantial homesteads, a genuine manor, but also of almost unimaginable hardship. After the abrupt end of the herring period in 1809, people couldn't sustain themselves in the archipelago. They settled in all conceivable places, quarried stone, drained marshes, and cultivated whatever they could. Numerous families, often with many children, were forced to live in miserable stone huts and cottages. This was an extremely barren region, covered only with heather and small bushes.

Be respectful of the environment; all ruins and traces of cultivation are protected under the Cultural Heritage Act. There are limitations to the Right of Public Access, and no plants should be picked. Regulations applicable to nature reserves are explained on the sign at the parking lot.