Troll­hät­te­fal­len*

Nowhe­re else in sout­hern Swe­den will you find a more dra­ma­tic river car­ving its way through the lands­cape. But it is only when the slu­ice gates open and the foa­ming water casca­des out that you appre­ci­a­te the true power of the river.

Troll­hät­tan water­falls no long­er rage con­ti­nu­ously like they did in the past, but you can still expe­ri­ence some of the wild­ness and roman­ce that have attrac­ted visi­tors to Troll­hät­tan for cen­tu­ri­es. You can see this spectac­le from June to August. For the rest of the year the slu­ice gates are only opened for groups by spe­ci­al arrangement.

The mighty ravi­ne lands­cape was cre­a­ted from cracks in the rock that opened up thousands of years ago. Gradu­al­ly the river grew dee­per due to rock falls and the con­stant abra­sion of the mountain. The gran­deur of this lands­cape is best seen from Oscarbs­bron bridge, but you can also get fine views from many pla­ces along the near­by pat­hs. The hig­hest viewing point of all is at Kop­parklin­ten, whe­re on a clear day can see for tens of kilometres.

Over the cen­tu­ri­es the power­ful river cur­rent was used to dri­ve mills. With growing indust­ri­a­li­sa­tion in the 18th and 19th the litt­le town grew. Clo­se to the exis­ting slu­ice gates you can still see the ruins of some of the mills that stood here until the ear­ly 20th century.