Location
Hystadmarkjo
Map
Stord - Fitjar 1:50.000.
Start and end point
Sævarhagsvikjo marina or Storhaug.
Parking
In both ends of the trail.
Marking
Information board at the starting point. Marked and graded after the new national standard. Signs in all crosspaths.
Grading
Green. Easy hike.
Difference in altitude
0 – 48 m. above sea level
Estimated time
1 hour (4 km)
Good advice
Take your time when you visit Hystadmarkjo. Here you can swim along one of the nice beaches, visit burial mounds from the Viking period or simply enjoy the well-being of wandering in the woods and by the sea at the same time.
Public transport
Busses from Leirvik to Rommetveit or Øklandslio. Step of the bus after the sign to Tyneset and walk the last stretch down towards the harbour. This path is within walking distance from the regional center Leirvik. You go north, passing Stord church, towards Aslaksvikjo. After passing Leirvik AS, former Leirvik Welding, you arrive the southern gateway to Hystadmarkjo.
Tour description
This is a well-prepared and graveled track fit for everybody. It is ca. 4 kilometers turn/return. All along the track there are information signboards about flora, fauna, culture, environment and outdoor qualities in the area.
Just after the starting point at the small-boat harbour of Sævarhagsvikjo, we pass the stonewall surrounding an old cholera-cemetery. It was built after the epidemic in 1849. The disease was very contagious, and in the 1850ies nobody knew the infection source. People were afraid the burial ground itself would be infected, and accordingly they found a place far from inhabited areas at Tyneset. The closeness to the sea reflects that boats were the most important means of transport. The roads in the district were built later in the century.
From the gravel track there are innumerable side-paths, either down to the sea and several small beaches, or into the forest. The first beach we pass is Melkevikjo, wide and protected from the sea-waves in Langenuen. At the outer end of Tyneset the bathing possibilities are very good. The road continues across Russaklubben, where there are several grave mounds from the Bronze Age on top of the small hill. The mounds are protected as memorials of the past. The next beach is Apalvikjo, a shallow sandy beach where you may wade across to Tyttebærholmen at low tide. On the beach there are benches, a toilet and a grill area. From this point is a direct view of the Kvinnherad mountains on the other side of Langenuen, and beyond them the glacier Folgefonna.
Further along the track we arrive in the Hystadmarkjo nature reserve, where we find the biggest black alder forest in northern Europe, an area of more than 50 acres of international protection value. Near the end of the track there is a wooden bridge across a small stream from a small brackish-water lake to the sea. In the lake is the biggest occurrence of Sea Club-rush (Schoenoplectus maritimus) in Hordaland. Left from the bridge is the contrast to the nature reserve, Leirvik AS, a heavy industry site. Further up a steep hill is the other entrance to Hystadmarkjo.