Stora Trutskär (or simply Trutskär) is an island in the northwest of the Swedish sector of the

Bay of Bothnia The Bothnian Bay or Bay of Bothnia (; ) is the northernmost part of the Gulf of Bothnia, which is in turn the northern part of the Baltic Sea. The land holding the bay is Post-glacial rebound, still rising after the weight of ice-age glaciers has ...

, in the

Kalix archipelago The Kalix archipelago ( sv, Kalix skärgård) is a group of 792 Swedish islands in the north part of the Bay of Bothnia. The largest island in the Kalix archipelago is Rånön. A few of the islands have small permanent populations, but most are use ...

. It has a beach area used for recreation, but is mostly covered by a nature reserve.

Location

Stora Trutskär is located in the central part of Kalix archipelago about east of Storön. It lies on the east side of the bay where the Kalix River enters the Bay of Bothnia, about southeast of

Karlsborg Karlsborg (, outdatedly ) is a locality and the seat of Karlsborg Municipality, Västra Götaland County, Sweden. It had 3,551 inhabitants in 2010. This garrison town lies at the shore of lake Vättern in Västergötland. History The town of Karl ...

. In the northwest of the island there is a sandy beach and large sand dunes. Stora Trutskär holds the clubhouse for the Kalix Sail and Motorboat Club (''Kalix Segel och Motorbåtssällskap''). Facilities include a hosted cabin, playhouse and playground for children, outdoor grills and barbecue house.

Nature reserve

Since 1997 of the island have been set aside as a nature reserve. The reserve covers the entire island apart from the beach area in the northwest, as well as two reefs to the east of the island. The forest has not been used for forestry, but people have extracted wood for home consumption. The best woods are found in the center of the southern part of the island. A large storm in 1982 threw down a lot of trees on the east side, and they have been replaced by brushwood. There is a swath of

limestone Limestone ( calcium carbonate ) is a type of carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of . Limestone forms whe ...

bedrock near the reserve. The lime from this rock gives

calcareous Calcareous () is an adjective meaning "mostly or partly composed of calcium carbonate", in other words, containing lime or being chalky. The term is used in a wide variety of scientific disciplines. In zoology ''Calcareous'' is used as an adje ...

soils that support a rich flora. Visitors may camp and make a fire if they bring firewood, but not directly on the rocks. They may hike, pick berries and mushrooms and fish, but must not harm the flora and fauna.

References

Sources * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Stora Trutskar Swedish islands in the Baltic Islands of Norrbotten County Kalix