Our sites and facilities: Kolarbyn

The Charcoal burner’s village


Opening times:
Re-constructed village by road no 233 just
south of Skinnskatteberg, used as a primitive hostel. Twelve charcoal-burner huts with
wood fired heaters and sheepskin topped
bunks. Game scouting. Elk safari. Wolf hikes. Information and booking +46 (0)70-400 70 53, www.kolarbyn.se. The tourism in Skinnskatteberg +46 (0)222-450 45 or Skinnskatteberg tourism.

Nature, Wood, Lake, Sauna, Fire, Charcoal, Elk, Woolf

Quite some time into the 20th century charcoal was a primary product in the iron making process. One of the last smelting houses to use charcoal was the one at Lienshyttan, which was shut down in 1959. During the centuries when Sweden was a leading iron producer in Europe the access to the woods for charcoal burning was a great advantage in the competition.

The lighter charcoal is easier to transport than the heavier wood. Therefore the charcoal burning took place at sites like the one here. The work was heavy, dangerous and dirty. The charcoal burner must watch his stack day and night for several days and only spend short hours in his hut,. If the stack burnt down he lost it all. All the same the charcoal burner´s life has been surrounded by a lot of romantic stories, songs and poems.

Here in the charcoal burner´s village you can sense the romance, enjoy a relaxing life in the woods and get some exiting experiences of the landscape. You can follow the charcoal making and try the living in a charcoal burners hut. Kolarbyn is both a meeting point, a youth hostel and a site for the entrepreneurs offering an experience of the surrounding landscape.