Years ago, I stumbled across photos of old car wrecks nestled between the trees somewhere deep in a Swedish forest. The images stuck with me – rusted metal slowly being swallowed by moss and pine needles. So when we started planning a road trip a while back, I knew we had to swing by Bilkyrkogården Kyrkö Mosse.
This swampy forest is an actual car graveyard, home to an estimated 150 historical vehicles that found their final resting place here decades ago. The wrecks – mostly from the 1940s and 1950s – are scattered alone or in small clusters, slowly sinking into the boggy ground. Some are draped in thick green moss, others buried under layers of pine needles or tangled in shrubs.
But how did they all end up here?
In the late 1930s, a man named Åke Danielsson settled on this bog west of Ryd to dig peat. When that proved unprofitable, he pivoted to scrap cars in the 1940s, selling spare parts to passing motorists. Business was decent – until a new main road was built in the 1960s, rerouting all his customers. He bought his last scrap car in 1974, and soon after, the trade faded away. The cars were simply left behind, slowly surrendering to nature.
Today, the site is open to visitors year-round. There’s a small gravel parking lot, but the paths are more or less muddy, so sturdy shoes are a must.
I got incredibly lucky with the weather – the sun was blazing, and the light filtering through the trees made the rusty wrecks look absolutely breathtaking. I went picture-crazy, sprinting from car to car like a kid on a sugar rush. After about an hour, my boyfriend gave up and headed back to the car, while I kept running around, completely in my element. I’d love to return on a misty day – I think the fog would make this place look absolutely epic.
