Seasons1 of 4
Öland's oldest oak is somewhere between 800 and 900 years old, and nobody has ever published how thick it is. Trolleken stands on the Trollskogsstigen, a 4.5-kilometre marked trail through Trollskogen, the troll forest at the northeastern tip of the island. The reserve dates only from 1998 and covers 266 hectares, with a visitor centre, a cafe and four waymarked trails, and it is one of the most visited places on Öland. The tree predates all of it by eight centuries. One story travels with the oak. A local island guide records the theory that seafarers used it as a landmark, back when the ground around it was open grazing rather than the closed forest standing there now. It is a theory and not a record: nobody has shown it to be true, and the county administration's own material does not repeat it. What the county administration does give is the age, 800 to 900 years, and the island guide gives the same span. Neither narrows it, so neither do we. Neither gives a girth or a height either, which is unusual for a tree this well known. If you have put a tape around it, tell us and the number goes on the page. There is no bus. Route 136 runs up the island to the naturum, about 65 kilometres north of Borgholm, with parking and a cafe at the trailhead. After that it is free, open, and on foot.
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Getting there
Trollskogsstigen trail, Trollskogen nature reserve, northeast Oland, near Naturum Trollskogen
You can recognise it by the trail: Trolleken is the veteran oak on the waymarked Trollskogsstigen, the 4.5-kilometre path from Naturum Trollskogen, and at 800 to 900 years it is the oldest oak on Öland.
Free. Inside Trollskogen nature reserve, reached on the marked 4.5km Trollskogsstigen trail from Naturum Trollskogen (visitor centre with parking, toilets, cafe). Open access, no ticket.
No public transport; reached by car via route 136, about 65km north of Borgholm. A drive rather than a walk from any town; this is its own destination, not part of a city day.
In fruit
October to November: acorns drop, and a good mast year buries the ground in them
The line is our estimate of how much there is to see, not a measurement. Typical for this species where this tree stands; exact weeks shift with the year.
Sources
Where the facts on this page come from. The story was written with AI from these sources, and readers who know the tree correct it.