Skåneleden

The Skåneleden trail is a long-distance walking trail that stretches all over the countryside of Skåne, in southern Sweden. The trail spans over 1,700 kilometres (1,100 mi) and is divided into seven sub-trails, with a total of 147 sections. The trail can easily be recognized by the orange trail marks along the footpath. The trail runs from the west to east and from north to south and passes through a highly diversified landscape such as rocky coastlines, undulating ridges, deep forests and white sandy beaches. Parts of the trail are accessible by wheelchair.

The trail features around 90 permanent shelters at designated campsites. The trail is also part of the 6,000 kilometres (3,700 mi) long North Sea Trail, which passes through Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom. It connects to the neighbouring trails of Blekingeleden to the east, sharing some sections with it and Hallandsleden to the north, meeting at Koarp in Hallandsås.

As of 2023, visitor counters along the trail recorded between 5 and 300 hikers per day on most sections, and up to 5,000 daily visitors in popular locations such as Stenshuvud and Ales Stenar. The official Skåneleden website received over 500,000 people in 2024, and 1,830 maps of the Skåneleden trail were sold in 2021.

The management of Skåneleden is overseen by the Scanian Landscape Foundation (Stiftelsen Skånska Landskap) on behalf of Region Skåne. Since 2011, Region Skåne has served as the main authority responsible for the trail’s development and promotion, while the foundation handles its administration and coordinates maintenance efforts with 31 municipalities. Each municipality is responsible for maintaining its section of the trail and managing relations with landowners, sometimes carrying out the work directly and sometimes delegating it to other organizations. The trail passes through both public and privately owned land, with over 1,000 landowners granting access through formal agreements with local municipalities.