Kalmarsundsleden Stage KS5 - Skärgårdsparken - Hossmo - part of Smålandsleden

Stage KS5 starts in one of Kalmar's most popular outdoor areas, Skärgårdsparken, with species-rich wetlands, natural pastures and open agricultural landscapes. Via a connecting trail, it continues from the bird life at Kalmar Dämme onto the Ångloksleden, the former iron road that is now a well-used pedestrian and cycle path. The stage ends in Hossmo church village and the medieval splendor that surrounds the medieval stone church - this is a stretch where both nature experiences and historical environments are at the center.

The trail entrance to KS5 is located at Naturens hus and connects to the trail via a connecting trail. Here you will find parking, toilets, shower grill and much more.

Skärgårdsparken and Kalmar dam

Skärgårdsparken along the Western Lake is an outdoor area with a varied nature and scenic trails along the coast, through forests and pastures and a couple of heights with beautiful views of the archipelago. The focus here is on outdoor life and recreation, but also on good accessibility, outdoor education, nature play and biodiversity. Thanks to the area's rich nature and bird life, the area is popular with birdwatchers and hikers.

The area is for everyone who wants to enjoy nature and outdoor life, and you can meet both mountain bikers and horse riders. Part of the Archipelago Park is Kalmar Dämme, a wetland park that was created in 1996 to reduce urea emissions from Kalmar Airport. The urea is used to keep the runways ice-free in winter. As a result, the wetland has become a relatively unique natural environment with a rich bird life. Several species of swimming and wading birds thrive here, for example, large numbers of greylag geese and lapwings gather and nest at the site. In winter, the wolf bird often appears and in some years the bearded tit is also found here. Great tits and bitterns have been seen in the area. Other examples of species that can be found are water rail, brown harrier, rosefinch, reed warbler and saw-whet sparrow. The Kalmar region is also said to be the most heron-dense area in the country.

**Dunö

Dunö is a relatively new residential area near the water outside Kalmar. Just before Dunö, the trail turns into large and beautiful natural pastures. There are oak groves with plenty of old and wide-crowned oaks. There are lots of wood anemones and bluebells in bloom. There are plenty of bluebells and here you can see them in colors other than blue. Cuckoo pea, cowslip and violets also color the landscape. Along the water there are well-grazed shore meadows where it is possible to see seaside needle and yellow warbler. This is followed by a varied agricultural landscape before the trail passes Hossmo. However, these lands are not suitable for cycling because there are grazing animals there.

**Hossmo church and village

In Kalmar municipality there are several old fortress churches. When Hossmo manor is passed, one of the churches comes, namely Hossmo church. It was originally built in the 1100s. The tower was built later. In the 13th century, a second storey was added. The manor was formed in the 17th century and all the farms in eastern Hossmo were merged into one large farm. In western Hossmo there is only one farm left.