Sonfjället

Sonfjället National Park, or Sånfjället, was established on 24 May 1909 in the province of Härjedalen, in central Sweden, and is one of the nine founding parks of the Swedish system, the first in Europe. It protects some 103 km² around the massif of the same name, which rises isolated above the extensive surrounding forest and culminates above 1,270 metres.

Its original purpose was largely faunal: at the beginning of the twentieth century the brown bear was on the brink of extinction in Sweden, reduced to a few hundred animals, and this area was one of its last strongholds. The protection contributed to its recovery, and the massif still keeps one of the highest bear densities in the country, which has made the park a well-known destination for observing and monitoring the species.

The landscape climbs from the conifer forest of the foothills, with old pine and spruce stands, through the mountain birch woodland, to the alpine heath and the block fields of the summit, from where a very wide panorama over Härjedalen opens out. The park was enlarged beyond its original size and preserves traces of the traditional use of the area, with summer pasture huts around it.