Strömbäck-Kont

The Strömbäck-Kont nature reserve is located about 20 kilometres south of Umeå where the Västerfjärden bay flows into the sea. The cliffs at Kont have long been a popular destination for Umeå residents. In 1978 Umeå municipality purchased a large area and formed the Strömbäck-Kont nature reserve.

Today Strömbäck-Kont is one of the most easily accessible nature reserves along the southern Västerbotten coast. The many hiking trails and picnic areas make it easy for visitors to enjoy nature at the coast. Some of the paths farthest to the south are also wheelchair-accessible. Most visitors park at the end of the road and enjoy a picnic on the cliffs. Before you reach the small cliff you will find a small inlet with a barbecue grill. Umeå municipality provides wood and toilet facilities here and other places in the nature reserve. Another alternative is to hike from Strömbäck Folk High School all the way to Kont, about three kilometres.

The Strömbäck-Kont area's history stretches back almost three thousand years and there are traces of both prehistoric and more recent cultures. Close to Sörböle are huge Bronze Age barrows. Northern Sweden's first glassworks was built in the middle of the eighteenth century in the village of Strömbäck, at the north end of the nature reserve. The glassworks operated until 1882 and the buildings have now been renovated and are part of the Strömbäck Folk High School. Våtön island in the nature reserve has old pastures set up for stallion breeding at the manor in Strömbäck. Today's hikers may still encounter animals grazing on Våtön. At the end of the nineteenth century it was the navy's turn to leave its mark on the community. Timber was gathered in Lake Hatten to be towed from Simphamn to the sawmill.

Strömbäck-Kont has a few sites of geoscientific interest. Hattholmen, a point jutting out into lake Hatten, has a few kinds of rocks that are unusual for Västerbotten, such as gabbro and anorthosite, and the labradorite with its feldspar that cuts like a light path through the crumbling dark gabbro. On the eastern edge of Våtöberget is a lovely carved out cave that is difficult to find. Two elongated drumlins, Granskär and Vidögern, jut upwards in the northern portions of Västerfjärden.

Strömbäck-Kont, one of the most diverse and species-rich nature reserves along the Västerbotten coast, varies from fresh to brackish water. Almost every seashore and freshwater species that occurs along the Västerbotten coast can be found here. Lake Hatten has unusual plants such as blunt-leaf pondweed (Potamogeton obtusifolius), marshpepper knotweed (Polygonum hydropiper) and smartweed (Polygonum foliosum). Narrow-leaf plantain (Plantago lanceolata) can be found on the southern part of Flakaskär.

Although Strömbäck-Kont is a nature reserve, there are large areas of young forest in the area. This is because over 100 hectares of old spruce forest were cut before the reserve was formed. These young forests are being managed to recreate the natural forest. The most valuable old forests can be found at Vidögern, which is home to truly old spruce forests, and in the southern portions of Flakaskär where really old pines grow in bogs and beautiful flat rock forests.