Sweden's claim to the oldest tree in the world is a scrappy spruce about five metres tall, and the part you can see is only a few hundred years old. The 9,550 years belong to the root system underneath it. Carbon dating of material from the site returned ages of 375, 5,660, 9,000 and 9,550 years, work published by Umeå University in 2008. The mechanism is worth understanding before you make the climb. A Norway spruce trunk up on this plateau lasts something like six centuries, then dies, and the roots send up a new one from the same genetic material. Layering rather than growth. So nothing about Old Tjikko is 9,550 years old the way an oak is 800 years old. What has persisted here since not long after the ice left Dalarna is the organism. The timber in front of you is the current edition. It is still going. A winter storm in February 2023 snapped about a metre off its top, and that piece is now on display at the Naturum Fulufjället visitor centre at the bottom of the trail. In 2024 a Stockholm art studio grew a clone from twigs cut off its upper branches for an installation in Malmö. Reaching it is a half-day. A marked trail climbs from the Njupeskär car park onto open fell, seven to nine kilometres round trip, under snow into early summer. No bus, no ticket, no guide. Stay on the markers: the mountain heath does not recover.
Fulufjället National Park, on the mountain plateau above Njupeskär, Älvdalen Municipality, Dalarna, SwedenYou can recognise it as a small, scrappy-looking spruce only about 5m tall, unremarkable to see despite its fame; the age belongs to the root system beneath it. It stands on open fell above the Njupeskar trail in Fulufjallet.
Free (Swedish national parks charge no entry fee). Reached only on foot: a marked, self-guided hiking trail (orange markers on stones and signage) climbs from the Njupeskärsstugan area up onto the mountain plateau, roughly 7-9 km round trip depending on the route chosen, gaining real elevation onto open fell terrain. No guide or booking is required, but hikers must stay on the marked path because the mountain heath vegetation is fragile, and the route can still be under snow into early summer. Not a casual stroll: sturdy footwear and weather-appropriate clothing for exposed alpine terrain are needed.
No public transport reaches the trailhead. Nearest access is by car to the Naturum Fulufjället visitor centre / Njupeskär car park (near Sarna/Mora area, Dalarna), then the hike above. Allow a full half-day round trip from the car park.
Sources
Where the facts on this page come from.