Uppsala can feel quite small if you are used to live in big cities, but it can also feel very fresh, natural, and free. The city is surrounded by fields and forests and, therefore, there are a lot of opportunities in terms of outdoors activities. "Low level" hiking (of course, almost no hills here!) is one of them, and today I'm going to talk about the Gula Stigen trail.
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Gula Stigen is a hiking trail of about 10 kilometres long, running from the Studenternas sports stadium via Kronparken, Rosendalsfältet, Ultuna hagar, Gottsundagipen, and Vårdsätra Forest, to Skarholmen. It was created as a skiing and hiking trail back in the 1930’s. What is unique about this trail is that runs through an almost continuous green belt in the middle of an urban environment. The trail’s surroundings include broadleaf groves, old pine forests, arable land, and pastures. This means that you can enjoy a rich variety of countryside. The terrain is occasionally slightly hilly, with boulders and roots, but there are also easily accessible stretches in the northern part of the trail that are suitable for disabled persons" (from
Uppsala Kommun).
It is an easy hike, although it can be quite tricky if done during the winter months, as ice and snow cover the path and it becomes slippery. In these case, you are never too careful! That is also one of the reasons it took so long to do it. I think it can take about 1h 30m, more or less, in spring or summer conditions.
Some pictures I took the other day (February 21, 2015):
