a

Muddus National Park

Norrbottens län  >  Sweden

Sweden´s largest forest national park with intact primeval forests with giant long-boled pines, mosaics of marshland, waterfalls and canyons.

Added* by Lars Eriksson
Most recent update 26 april 2025

Description

Muddus National Park is one of the quietest places in Sweden, part of Laponia, and a Unesco World Heritage Site. The national park is consisting of forests, lakes and marshes largely on a plateau bisected by a valley, broad in the north but passing through narrow gorges in the south. The park has mainly old-growth forest and large boggy grounds. The forest has a lot of old large trees, consisting mainly of pine and spruce with some birch and willow.

Due to the intact primeval forests the area has a large boreal bird community. In the forest you can encounter birds like gozdni jereb, ruševec, divji petelin, zlovešča šoja, smrekov kalin, triprsti detel and laponska sinica. Owls that can be spotted include mali skovik, kozača, skobčja sova, velika uharica and koconogi čuk. Raptors that can be seen include planinski orel, pepelasti lunj, ribji orel and sokol selec. On the lakes you can observe labod pevec, zvonec and polarni slapnik. In the marshes of the park you can spot žerjav, močvirski martinec, spremenljivi prodnik, zelenonogi martinec and kozica.

Muddus is also known for its mammals. Within the boundaries of the national park live Brown Bear, Wolverine, Lynx, Pine Marten, Otter, Reindeer, Moose and Beaver.

Details

Access

Muddus national park is located in Sweden's far north, 20 km north of the town of Jokkmokk. The easiest way to get there is by car from Jokkmokk, passing the dam of the Luleälven hydroelectric power station (Vattenkrafverk Ligga) near the village of Ligga, and from there to the parking at the entrance. Press P on the map for directions to the parking.

In Muddus national park there is a summer trail system approximately 50 km long. The hiking trail makes it easy to explore large parts of the national park. But the distances can be long and there can be a lot of mosquitoes in the summer, so make sure you are prepared. The long 46 km trail that is indicated on the map is a path that follows ancient migratory routes, passing by five cabins with sleeping accommodations that are open year-round. But of course you can also do just a part of the trail or the 4 km circular walk at the beginning of the trail.

Terrain and Habitat

Forest , Moors/heathland , Lake

Conditions

Open landscape , Wet

Circular trail

Yes

Is a telescope useful?

No

Good birding season

Summer , Spring

Best time to visit

Summer

Route

Narrow trail

Difficulty walking trail

Average walk

Accessible by

Foot

Birdwatching hide / platform

Yes

Links

View other birding spots in the area that are published on Birdingplaces

Map

Top 5 birds

Other birds you can see here

Show more birds Show less birds
Show more images Show less images

Comments & Tips

Post comment, tip or bird sighting
Rate this area
Add to my favourites
Remove from my favorites