Wildlife tracking on foot in Sweden

For more intrepid travelers then, moose tracking in the remote Sarek National Park in Jokkmokk, northern Sweden might be the way to go. Dropped in by helicopter to save walking time, in late September you’ll be in a hiker’s paradise without the other hikers. The park is so isolated there are no marked trails or accommodations – you’ll be wild camping, drinking water from streams, and with no phone reception so that you’re reliant on your helicopter pick-up. On clear nights, you might even see the Northern Lights.

This is a vast, mountainous region, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and home to the reindeer-herding Sami people. You will likely encounter plenty of reindeer here, but the main attraction is the moose. With winter approaching, they are looking for mates, and you will see males parading around next to each other, showing themselves off to females and wonderfully oblivious of your presence. Other wildlife here includes eagles, wolverines and lynx and even brown bears, though the odds are that you will only see them by spotter scopes.

You need to be fit for a trip like this. Not SAS-survival fit, but able to cope with carrying a 22kg pack for six days, erecting your own tents, and coping with changeable weather. It’s the kind of vacation where you’d be well-advised to stick as closely as possible to the suggested packing list. Jokkmokk can be reached by overnight train from Stockholm (we always advise going overland instead of flying where possible), and small group trips have a ratio of just seven people per guide.

With an exceptional success rate, Swedish wildlife tracking vacations in Bergslagen Forest use a variety of means to get around besides walking, including hydro-powered boats, which are useful to find beavers in the lake. Reintroduction of wolves here has been just as polarising as it has been elsewhere in the world, and guides work to monitor several packs in the area, reporting observations and collecting droppings. You will meet one of Sweden’s leading wolf experts to learn about the work of the Scandinavian Wolf Project, how to track them using paw prints and prey species, and even camp out in the forest, potentially hearing the wolves howling at night!

Stay in a cosy guesthouse on Lake Storsjön in the center of wolf country, enjoying home-cooked meals made with locally sourced ingredients (oh, hi there low food mileage) such as wild boar and free-ranging lamb, with wild chanterelles (edible mushrooms) and sweetened lingonberries. During the summer months, when this trip runs weekly, forest trails are scattered with berries and fungi making for easy foraging.

Small group tours here require a reasonable level of fitness for wildlife walks but the greatest challenges you’ll face are likely to be some late finishes, as many animals are nocturnal.