Hovs Hallar
A 3-km advanced hiking trail with a climb of 70 m. Hovs Hallar is one of the treasures of Bjäre Peninsula and must be experienced. The place where Hallandsåsen meets the sea is spectacular, with broken precipices, cave-like formations, sea stacks and a shingle beach.

The view over Laholmsbukten (Laholm Bay) is almost overwhelming, but please be careful when you walk because the ground is steep and rocky. The hills above the precipices are dotted with juniper bushes and small forest groves, and that should make it easier. The flora is rich and varied due to different soil types. Look for Baltic gentian, a rare species that grows in a plateau in the eastern side of the area. People have worked this soil since ancient times and traces still remain today. Most rock formations have their own names and some have fascinating stories to tell, from old smuggling tales to contemporary films. The area around Hovs Hallar has been declared a nature reserve.

Flora
The precipices are picturesque and covered in blackthorn, rose hip, ivy and fragrant woodbine and different types of fern plants such as forked spleenwort and brittle bladderfern. Juniper bushes dominate above the precipices, but Swedish whitebeam, mountain ash, birch and blackberry also grow.

The most prevalent ground cover is heather, red wood, wavy hairgrass, sheep fescue and in wetter areas mat-grass. Some pasture species also thrive, like decumbent heath grass, spring sedge, heath rush, wild thyme, milkwort and cat's-foot. An area of calcareous gravel on the eastern side has even more species of flora. Look for carline, eyebright, quaking-grass, crested dog’s tail, fairy flax and Baltic gentian that flowers in August. Seakale, sea mayweed and Scots lovage grow down by the shingle beach.

Fauna
The fauna is dominated by birdlife with wild ducks and gulls. During the breeding season, you will see eider, shelduck, herring gull, black-backed gull, common gull, black-headed gull and sea pie. The familiar sound of ravens has returned to Hovs Hallar after a short absence. In winter, buzzards and sea eagles circle the air in search of prey. And look out for rock pipits. Hovs Hallar is well known for its Atlantic sea birds in autumn, like gannets, shearwaters, fulmars and various falcons. Be sure to take a packed lunch!

Geology
Hovs Hallar is a geological delight. The word “hallar” means outcrop. You can actually see into Hallandsåsen horst: red gneiss with embedded amphibolite. Both rock types were formed about 1.8 billion years ago and are Achaean rock. The rock is heavily decomposed, however, due to continental drifts around 230 million years ago when Hallandsåsen was squeezed up and over surrounding lowland and almost crushed, especially around the edges where it ground against surrounding rock. Huge wide cracks were formed further into the rock and black magma, diabase, rose from deep within the earth’s crust. You can follow the diabase dikes. An erosion process then began to break down the rocks. When the last Ice Age ended about 14,000 years ago, Bjärehalv Island had been pressed down under heavy sheets of ice and only some sections were more than 60 m above sea level (the highest shoreline). The land began to rise from the sea. Sometimes the sea rose at the same time so waves worked more intensively at some levels (+35 m). This is most evident on shoreline about 10 m above the sea. There are many beautiful examples at and above this level of the sea’s erosive effect on rock, especially the sea stacks that are still standing.

Ancient history
On the hillsides sloping down towards the precipices, ancient fields with terraces and cairns show how people cultivated this soil during the Bronze and Iron Ages (about 1800 BC - 1050 AD). Cattle breeding has dominated however and the grazed sections of Hovs Hallar have been used for centuries, perhaps even from the Bronze Age. The most obvious ancient monument is a burial-mound called Kampehöj which was probably built during the Bronze Age, but may have been used as a burial ground until the Iron Age. The mound has been damaged over the years unfortunately, and a trench shelter was built around one of the edges.

History
Smyeslätt is a large shingle beach to the east. There are more than 280 cairns on the beach, small heaps of stone that were used to support the poles where fishermen hung their nets. You can still see the foundations of temporary settlements - stone circle remains of structures that were used for herring catches during the late Middle Ages. Over the past 200 years, people have used the area around Hovs Hallar for breaking rock and extracting marl. The most fascinating feature though, is the names that were given to the different rock formations. ”Sillpickarhålet” or “Solpickarhålet” is the name of a cave-like hole in the rock. When Scania (Skåne) belonged to Denmark, people dug holes into the hills to look for silver.

 

From Båstad, follow road 115 towards Torekov for about 8 km. Drive through Hov to the next township called Ängalag. Turn right towards Hovs Hallar. Follow the road about 3.5 km until you reach the end, and you will see the parking lot for Hovs Hallar.