The Tyresta National Park is very unique as it lies almost on the borders of the Swedish capital city. How crazy is it that this beautiful piece of unspoiled and pure nature lies only around 20 kilometres from the city centre of Stockholm? Pretty crazy!

It can be reached easily only by 40 minutes by public transport from the city or even shorter car ride. As such, the Park is situated in the central part of Sweden and thus has a landscape typical for this area.

The circa 20 square metres of park and (another 27 square kilometres of surrounding nature reserve) belong to the Stockholm county.

The Park was established in 1993 and belongs to one of the newer ones. The short distance from the metropolis allows locals and all visitors to enjoy their day off work or even just a nice afternoon and have a picnic or stroll through the wild forest without having to hassle and conquer a long road.

Tyresta is characteristic for its valley landscape and wide range of unique or rare animal and plant species.

The primeval forest is proudly treasuring some of the 400 old pine trees. Spruces are fringing the way in many parts and if you carefully watch around, you might spot lichens or mosses.

There is also plenty of roe deer, mountain hare and elk. Apart from animals, Tyresta is home for more than 100 species of breeding birds as well as endless number of insect living in the woods.

The forest is one thing, allowing a peaceful walk in the pristine nature – the second thing is several lakes located within the Park’s borders.

The lakes are clear and inviting for a swim during summer months. Another popular activity for both Swedes and foreign visitors is picking wild forest berries. And there is plenty!

The Tyresta National Park was severely harmed during the forest fire in 1999.

More than 10 percent of the park (around 4.5 square kilometres) was consumed and completely burnt down as the fire lasted for more than a week.

This tragedy completely destroyed a vast part of valuable park area of this natural gem. On the other hand, forest fires belong to the natural cycle and help towards the regeneration of the forest.