The nature reserve of Lugnås millstone mines
Lugnås
Lugnås millstone quarries are seated about 15 km south of Mariestad. Visit the exciting cultural landscape on Lugnås mountain. By the quarries you'll experience exciting travels through time, as far as 500 million years back.
Experience beautiful nature and exciting history down by the nature reserve Lugnås millstone quarries. There's a 700 meter path from the parking lot down to the quarry through stunning deciduos forest. Grazing sheep live here during summer, ensuring that the area is kept open and well-maintaned naturally. On the way down you'll past by shingle fields. The vegetation changes with the seasons, from windflower fields during spring and wild ferns in the summer, to colourful and bright leaf canopies during autumn.
A visit to the quarries mean to travel through time. The primeval rock of the mountain is made out of gneiss older than 1500 million years. The next layer is sandstone, and you can still see the traces left by trilobites and other ancient arthropods that thrived in the shallow warm sea that covered the area 500 million years ago.
During summer, there's guided tours, an open museum and café every day. During the rest of the year it is open on certain occasions. The area is nevertheless free to visit at all times, and it's a perfect spot for a rest with fika or to grill hotdogs. Grill and seating with tables and benches are available. Here is also a toilet.
The biosphere- and pilgrim trails pass by, and there's projects going on to create more paths for hiking as well as further parking, to enhance your visit even more.
You're more than welcome to visit, but keep in mind that it's forbidden to:
- Use a motor vehicle anywhere other than on roads meant for them. This does not apply to the landowner in case of land- and property management, and according to special agreements about forestry on bordering lands or hunting rights-owners by transport of hunted prey
- Riding in marshes or other wetlands. Riding is not allowed to damage nature or trails
- Making a fire in any other place than specific grilling spots
- Bring an unleashed dog. This does not apply during hunting or during landmanagement
- Break twigs, cut down or in any other way damage dead, standing or fallen trees and bushes
- Pick or dig up plants, moss, lichens or mushrooms. It is, however, permitted to pick berries and edible mushrooms for your private usage
- Catch or gather invertebrates
- Place out plants and animals
