- Challenging 16.7 km
- 6 hours walking time
- 85 positive altitude meters
Gruvbryggan
When you get off the boat at Gruvbryggan, you have Utö Värdshus up the hill. In the harbor, there is a small café, toilets, showers, and a sauna. There is also a bicycle rental, some small shops and few food vendors.
To the left, north, there is a restaurant by the mini-golf course. A kayak rental and an outdoor gym is beyond the gravel field.
To the right, south, there is a restaurant, ICA (a grocery store), and the bakery. This is the route we recommend if you want to complete the entire section.
An alternative is to go past Utö Värdshus, past the water-filled mining pits and follow the arrows to Rävstavik. From there, you can either hike half the section to the north or half the section to south.
Gruvbryggan to Spränga Brygga
3.4 km. Some gravel road, trail, and rocky terrain.
We continue south past ICA on the gravel road.
When you get to the campground, turn right, pass the service building, and you will see the trail markings across the open area. Continue on the trail from there.
In the forest, you will come to a sharp right turn that is clearly marked. From there, go down the rocky knoll back south. As a curiosity, there is a Russian baking oven from the 1700s down to the right that is signposted. But you should stay on the SAT marked trail to the left. You will soon come to the gravel road. At the intersection, go right towards the water. After about 50 meters, the trail goes back into the forest on the left. Continue there.
The trail now goes over rocky outcrops and through the forest. You will eventually reach another gravel road. Turn right, west, towards Spränga Brygga.
In this intersection, there are several options. You can either go straight across the gravel road and continue on a previously blue/yellow marked trail through the forest. But then you will miss the wetlands. You can also go left on the gravel road until it ends and rejoin the trail, but then you will miss the entire southern loop.
We suggest you go right, on the gravel road to Spränga Brygga.
Spränga Brygga
At Spränga Brygga, the public ferry stops.
Spränga Brygga to Vänsviken
3.5 km. Gravel road, and easy trail.
When you are at Spränga Brygga, take the gravel road south. You will pass the intersection towards the church which is to the right. You will also see Utö school on the left side and after 100 meters is ” Hembygdsgården”, the old community house. Continue past it on the gravel road south, along the straight stretch of the road. When you come to the curve that turns to the right, leave the gravel road on a trail along the fence to the left. Here the trail goes straight in along the fence edge. Follow the fence edge along the grass field to the small gravel road that turns left towards the Södra Fladen wetland and the sea.
A few hundred meters ahead, you will come to the wetland. Here, rainwater is purified from high nutrient levels, pike and perch swim up for reproduction, and birds stop to eat or raise their young. Vegetables are also grown here for the Inn and Båtshaket. It is a test bed run by Initiativ Utö, receiving visits from KTH ( Royal Technical University) for various research projects and school classes wanting to learn and understand the Baltic Sea ecosystem.
At the bird tower, there is a rest area with a fire pit, a small shelter,and benches. From here, continue on the gravel road until you see a bridge on the left side. Cross the bridge and walk on the embankment between the bay and the wetland. Life is vibrant here. To the right, to the east, the bay is full of small islands and skerries.
From the embankment, continue through the birch trees to the gravel road. Here the trail goes to the right, east. If you go left on the gravel road, you will return to Spränga Brygga.
We continue to the right on the gravel road. After about 150 meters, the previously blue/yellow marked trail emerges from the forest to the left. This is where you will come out if you did not take the gravel road earlier to Spränga. In any case, continue straight on the gravel road for another 700 meters. There, the trail turns left, north, into the forest.
This section takes you up onto rocky outcrops with lots of open space. Then it winds down to some wooden steps that leads you out onto a gravel road again, about 1.1 km of trail in the forest.
At this intersection, the trail goes right, east. If you take the gravel road to the left, it will take you to Spränga Brygga.
But we go to the right on the gravel road. After about 100 meters, the road splits. Keep to the left. After another 100 meters, the trail turns right. Where the gravel road turns left, you should enter the forest to the right, along the boardwalk.
Along the eastern coast to Kroka
6.7 km. This section is technical. You will be challenged. The entire section is fantastic.
The trail now follows a part along the sea. On boardwalks, over rocks. Winding up and down. Until you come to a trail intersection where a green-marked trail comes from the left. There, you should turn right, 90 degrees.
In the coming section, the trail winds back and forth. Keep your eyes open. You will come to the southern end of Rävstavik. Cross a boardwalk bridge. Before continuing to the right, north along the inside of the bay. Up the rock until you reach the connecting forest road from the left, coming from Utö Värdshus.
Rävstavik (after 3.1 km from the gravel road or 10.3 km from Gruvbryggan)
In Rävstavik, you can either go back to Utö Värdshus and Gruvbryggan along the forest road to the left. Or continue north along the trail.
We continue north. From the connecting forest road above, SAT goes slightly down to the right. Along the rock. It can be slippery when wet. At the end of the bay, you reach a shed and a small sandy beach. Here, there is another forest road up to the left. It also leads to Utö Värdshus and Gruvbryggan.
We continue past the shed. Towards a smaller shed in the forest. The trail continues there. But take the opportunity to go out onto the rocks here. It is very nice.
From the small shed, the trail continues through the pine forest. Here, there are many rocky outcrops to cross. This part is technical and difficult. But also outstanding. On several occasions, you will find a bench to rest on. To enjoy the view.
The trail then takes you down to a forest road that you should cross. The trail goes straight across. But to the right, there is a nice bay with a fire pit, Södra Sandvik. To the left using the forest road, you will eventually reach Utö Värdshus and Gruvbryggan.
We continue straight ahead. Across the forest road. Down along the water’s edge. On smelly reeds. Then the trail turns right again. Up onto the rocks and along the coast. Here, there are few trees and a great view of the sea to the right.
The trail then goes down towards the water again and turns left. Into the bay. Over a sheep fence and through a pasture until you climb over the fence again and stand on a gravel road. SAT goes right, north. If you go left on the gravel road, you will reach Gruvbryggan and civilization.
Go right. North.
Kroka to Barnens bad
2.1 km. Some gravel road, mostly technical trail.
Go north along the gravel road past the houses in Kroka. Up the hill and then down. At the turn, SAT sharply turns left onto the trail. This turn is easy to miss.
If you continue straight, after a few hundred meters, you will reach Järnholmssund. It is worth the detour.
We continue onto the trail to the left anyway. This part is relatively technical.
The trail goes from Krokavägen straight out to the sea. West. Towards Mysingen. Here, the trail then turns south up the rock ledge and continues winding back and forth, up and down along the sea and in the pine forest. Now you have the water to the right and you are going south. Until you reach Barnens bad. Here, there is a sandy beach and shallow water.
Barnens bad to Gruvbryggan
1 km. Easy forest road and gravel road.
Here, the trail goes up to the left. Up the hill on the forest road. Past the gate and along the field. To the gravel road.
At the gravel road, turn right, south. Slightly downhill. Within three hundred meters, you will reach a gravel road that goes steeply up to the left. It is Lurgatan. It takes you directly to Utö Värdshus if you want, past the old miners houses.
SAT continues straight ahead. Along the pasture on the right side for another five hundred meters, you will be back at Gruvbryggan and where you started.