For those who want to combine beautiful mountain environments with a car holiday, a trip along the 50-mile long Wilderness Road in northern Jämtland and Southern Lapland is perfect! Vildmarksvägen is perfect for anyone who vacations with a car, motorhome or sheet ice - and not least roof tent, which we made our trip with.
In this guide, we list practical information and tips for those of you who are thinking about or about to travel the Wilderness Route. Further down in the post, you will also find our 11 nuggets of gold along Vildmarksvägen that you simply must not miss .
We made our trip with the roof tent Åreskutan .
Sweden's highest paved road
The beautiful Vildmarksvägen is Sweden's highest paved road. The most famous stretch goes over the Stekenjokk plateau between Lapland and Jämtland. Here you go by car up on Kalfjällen, surrounded by mountain peaks and beautiful expanses. The easy accessibility means that you can have the experience of mountain hiking without even leaving the car!
The actual stretch over Stekenjokk is about 20 kilometers and only a small part of the Vildmarksvägen which is a total of 500 kilometers, and there is much more to discover.
Vildmarksvägen is asphalted all the way around, while some detours - such as for example to Hällingsåfallet or Marsliden - are on dirt roads.
Accommodation along Vildmarksvägen
Along Vildmarksvägen there are many accommodation options - both campsites and hotels. But many also choose to bring their own accommodation in the form of mobile homes, caravans, tents, or in our case – roof tents.
If you want to sleep along the most spectacular part around the Stekenjokk plateau, there are no other options than your own accommodation. You can stay 24 hours in a motorhome, caravan or tent at special places in Stekenjokk. There is a giant parking pocket which as we passed looked more like a campsite with RVs and RVs lined up.
Which direction should you go Vildmarksvägen?
The wilderness road starts in the south at the E45 in Strömsund and in the north in Vilhelmina. Which turn you choose to take is not really important, but when people ask for tips in Facebook groups, a majority usually recommend going clockwise.
Then you turn off at Strömsund towards Gäddede. Many people who have traveled the Vildmarksvägen in one direction often choose to go again at a later time but in the other direction because the views will then be different.
When is the best time to go?
The choice of time to travel the Vildmarksvägen is primarily governed by the availability of the section over Stekenjokk. Due to the large amounts of snow there, the road is open from the beginning of June to the middle of October, usually June 6 - October 15.
When does Vildmarksvägen open and close?
The road over the Stekenjokksplatån usually opens on June 6, i.e. on Sweden's national day.
Vildmarksvägen, or more precisely the section over Stekenjokk, closes on October 15.
Maybe you've seen spectacular pictures of driving on a road surrounded by several meter high walls of snow on the sides of the road - they are usually from the time the road opens (if it's been a snowy winter, which is not always the case).
If you choose to go to Stekenjokkplatån when the road opens, you have to expect that there may be serious queues, otherwise this is usually not a problem.
Prohibition to leave the car
At the beginning of the summer, there may be a ban on stopping and getting out of your vehicle on certain parts of the road over the Stekenjokk plateau, due to reindeer herding and the fact that some parts are bird protection areas.
To complicate matters a little, the border between Jämtland and Västerbotten counties crosses the plateau and to check what applies, you need to look for information at the respective county's County Boards, here is the Jämtland County Board and here is the Västerbotten County Board .
There are also many Facebook groups about Vildmarksvägen where you can search for information or respond, for example Vi som aker Vildmarksvägen .
A general tip is to also check with the tourist offices in Strömsund and Vilhelmina, both for current practical information or excursion destinations.
If you want to avoid having to deal with restrictions, you should choose to travel the Vildmarksvägen from the middle of July, historically when the restrictions on where you can stay and hike have been lifted. If you want to experience massive walls of snow, go as soon as the road opens in June.
We went in the middle of July, personally I would like to do it again in September for the crackling autumn colors.
How many days are needed to travel the Vildmarksvägen?
How many days you should spend on your trip along the Wilderness Road obviously depends on what you want to do along the way. If it is primarily Stekenjokkplatån that is your focus, you can of course burn around the whole in 1-2 days.
But there is so much to see and do that I would recommend you take at least four nights, maybe a whole week if you really want to max it out!
Think through before you go what you want to get out of your trip along the Wilderness Road. If you want to catch up on hikes, flea markets, visits to cities and Sami church villages, you will need more days.
My recommendation (based on experience) is to take an extra day, it's never fun to have to skip things and sights due to lack of time.
Map of Vildmarksvägen
Here you can see a map of Vildmarksvägen where various attractions and activities are indicated. Further down here in the blog entry, I suggest my favorite places along Vildmarksvägen.
Me (Elisabeth, who runs Taktältarna) and my friend Emma went the Vildmarksvägen with a roof tent in the summer of 2021, but we did it with a little twist. Since we live in Åre, we chose to take the road through Norway up to Gäddede in order to ride some new roads (between Strömsund and Gäddede there is still not much to see, in our opinion).
So we came out onto the Wilderness Road itself at Gäddede, where we first chose to go back a short distance towards Strömsund to experience the Hällingsåfallet and then turn around and go back north over.
11 nuggets of gold you can't miss along Vildmarksvägen
We had 5 days to go the Vildmarksvägen. We planned which stops we would make from day to day, it became a fun activity when we sat and snuggled by the fire in the evening.
1. The slope case
The 42 meter high Hällingsåfall is a really powerful experience! You can go all the way to the falls by car, but rather stop at the parking lot about 1.5 kilometers before and walk 2 kilometers to the falls. The path goes along the Hällingsån and up Sweden's largest canyon. Right at the start of the canyon there is an incredibly beautiful place to swim. 
The hike is easy and the views (when you get to the canyon) are magnificent, I would almost say that the canyon is as big an experience as Hällingsåfallet itself and if you go directly to the parking lot of the fall, you don't get to experience it in the same way.
2. Stora Blåsjön
Stora Blåsjön is surrounded by mountains and at the north-west corner of the lake you will find the village of the same name and also Camp Stora Blåsjön where there are both pitches and tent pitches. The unique thing is that they have been arranged so that you can stand down on the beach - a must place to stay along Vildmarksvägen if you have a roof top tent or campervan! With a mobile home it is smarter to get up and down the beach.
So you can wake up and run straight into the lake for a morning dip (which of course we did). Another great thing is that you can order rolls and buns for breakfast, which are delivered directly to you in the morning. So good with freshly baked goods!
We would have liked to eat at the restaurant Fjällripan , which is run by (previously?) Arga chef Alexander Nilsson, but unfortunately it was fully booked. So a tip is to book yourself there well in advance of a visit.
3. The Brakkå case
Just before Stora Blåsjön (if you come from Gäddede) is the Brakkåfallet, you don't have to walk many meters to get there. Tip! Take the path that goes down to the bottom of the falls, and why not take a bath?
4. Ankerede church town
Ankarede Kyrkstad is a Sami church town, the only one in Jämtland that is still in use. The church town was also used by the rest of the population in the area. It is classified as of national interest for the cultural environment and weddings, baptisms and funerals are held here to this day. On the site there is Ankarede chapel, about 30 huts, a small museum and a cozy cafe. There are also many hiking trails that start from here, but none we tested ourselves.
Ankarede has long been a gathering and meeting place for Sami people in northern Jämtland, where reindeer and reindeer herders from Frostviken used to pass on their way between summer and winter pastures.
5. Bjurälven nature reserve
The Bjurälven nature reserve has a very unique environment and is really recommended for those who are interested in nature and like to hike. An underground river has contributed to the creation of the karst landscape, a name given to the special landscape that forms on limestone mountains with completely or partially underground watercourses.
Bjurälven's water in combination with the carbon dioxide of the air has dissolved the limestone so that caves, underground channels and other peculiar rock formations have formed. Some highlights are Dolinsjön, Blinda dalen and the Colosseum. The walk around is a total of 12 kilometers. We prepared lunch at the car park and then brought goodies for coffee breaks along the way. The spectacular part begins after 3 kilometers when you arrive at the Lillälven Rasstuga, where there is a fireplace, dass and garbage can.
The hike is hilly but well organized with many sturdy stairs. Don't miss swimming in the waterfall below the cabin (we did it when we got back from the hike, so nice after sweating up and down the stairs!). Read more about the Bjurälven nature reserve here .
6. Stekenjock
Fantastic environments meet you up on the Stekenjokk plateau where you can go mountain hiking by car! For a while we almost think we are in Norway, which is not a bad rating. A unique experience for Sweden. There are plenty of parking pockets to stop at for the night or to hike. We followed the rapids here .
Below Stekenjokk is the small village of Klimpfjäll, here we found a really nice roof tent site surrounded by water, a small waterfall and a barbecue area.
7. The stair step rapids
The Trappstegsforsen is a given stop for everyone who rides the Vildmarksvägen. It is located right next to the road, 5 kilometers south of Saxnäs and is even visible from the road.
Trappstegsforsen is a waterfall shaped into a staircase where Kultsjön's water is thrown down. Right next door is a grill with good burgers.
8. The swimming area near Marsliden
A few kilometers before the village of Marsliden is a fantastic swimming spot. It is a sandy beach surrounded by majestic mountains. It is not possible to camp right by the beach, but in that case at a parking pocket along the small road. We went there, took a swim and went on. In the village of Marsliden, next to a small shop, there is also a small cute collector's museum with all sorts of things, including a pair of Ingemar Stenmark's skis.
9. Bergman's Fish & Game
We had our only meal at a restaurant during the trip (otherwise we cooked on the grill and Trangiakök) at Bergmans Fisk & Vilt, which is located just north of Vilhelmina. Really yummy pizzas and a wonderful delicatessen with lots of different smoked products.
10. Vilhelmina church town and museum
We stopped in Vilhelmina and wandered around among the old and beautiful wooden houses in Vilhelmina church town. Today, the old houses house a hostel, (so you can sleep over if you want!) and some private residences. Right next door is the Vilhelmina museum , a small but very worthwhile museum about the history of the city and the region, Sami history and more.
11. Flea market round between Vilhelmina and Strömsund/h3>
When we left Vilhelmina, we stopped at every flea market we saw a sign for along the E45 down towards Strömsund. There were a lot of stops and many good flea market finds! Fun activity if you are not in a hurry.
Rent a roof top tent or motorhome for your trip along Vildmarksvägen
As I've already covered, a roof tent trip is a great way to experience the Wilderness Road. Here you will find our roof tents , developed for the Nordic climate. If you don't have your own, we have rooftop tents for rent at Taktältarna.
If you would rather experience the Vildmarksvägen with a motorhome, you can rent one on the site camptoo.se , where private individuals rent out to other private individuals.
Until the next time we ride Vildmarksvägen
I would also really like to visit the Coral Cave , but there were no guided tours when we were nearby. Korallgrottan is Sweden's longest cave, which consists of a jumble of passages, large halls and small loopholes.
As I mentioned earlier, I would really like to see Vildmarksvägen in autumn, so that will be next time!
