Northern Sweden - Trollforsen

Trollfors, Sweden.

Trollforsen is a section of whitewater on the Piteälven (Pite River), which is one of Sweden’s largest river basins. It is located in the Norrland region just outside the bigger city of Arvidsjaur in the north. It has become a well know section for destination paddling and is host to the annual midsummer pilgrimage for paddlers from Sweden, Finland, Norway, and other parts of Europe. It was also host to the European Cup in 2006.

Trollforsen not only has one of Scandinavia’s best surf waves but also has a super epic creek run. The great thing about Trollforsen is that you can camp riverside at the take-out of the creek run and paddle yourself a short 600 meters downstream to the wave.

The play feature is called ‘Palt’ and it supplies eddy service for as many surfs as you can take. This breaking wave is great for any ability levels and for the advanced playboaters, you can stick just about any trick you can think of. It is where the majority of Swedish paddlers go to hone their skills. I certainly make the voyage to this spot as often as I can while spending time in Sweden.

Trollforen always has something to paddle but the prime time of year for the Palt Wave is June through mid July. This is when the daylight hours are very long (it never actually gets dark) and you can always find someone to paddle with.

Here are a few images from the wave. The water level when I was there was starting to get a little low but still provided a great time… even if I was the only paddler on the water!

Come visit.

Tyler Curtis