In Hälsingland, the farmers got rich on flax, and then they spent the money on wallpaper. From the late eighteenth century through the nineteenth, prosperous families in the forested valleys of this part of central Sweden built huge timber farmhouses, each with a festive room reserved for weddings, funerals and holidays, and decorated it with painted murals, stencilled borders and trompe-l'oeil panels in extravagant colours. They are still standing, red-painted outside, ornate inside, and seven of them were listed by UNESCO in 2012 as the decorated farmhouses of Hälsingland.
The setting is the Ljusnan valley, a broad, gentle landscape of rivers, meadows and spruce forest, with the little town of Järvsö at its heart. Järvsö is a resort with a ski hill and a zoo, with enough shops and fuel for the area, and Ljusdal, a little further north, is the bigger centre. The roads between are quiet and good, with smooth, undulating bends along the water and through the forest, with farms set in clearings and fields cut by old stone walls.
Riding here is a gentle pleasure in Swedish style: low traffic, long views, polite drivers and strict speed limits with cameras in the places you least expect. Watch for elk at dusk and in the early morning, especially in autumn, as an elk collision is a serious matter. Midsummer is bright and nearly endless, and the locals celebrate it around a maypole with herring, new potatoes and strawberries.
Some of the farms are open to visitors in summer, though many are private homes, so be respectful, and look at what you can see from the road. The painted rooms are not usually visible from outside, so a guided visit is the way to appreciate them. Local food includes fermented herring in some parts of the region, and crispbread and cheese everywhere.
The best months for riding are June to September. Autumn colours in the forest are splendid, though days are short, and winter is a landscape for snowmobiles and skis. Pull over by a red barn and listen, because Hälsingland's quiet is its main attraction.