Riddarhyttan is, along with
Skinnskatteberg, one of only two urban areas or
localities (more than 200 inhabitants) in the
Skinnskatteberg Municipality in the western part of
Västmanland County, on the border to
Örebro County. It is located in the north of the historical province of
Västmanland. The area of the locality, as defined by
Statistics Sweden, is 1.56 km2. The
Swedish national road 68 is running through Riddarhyttan and the lake Lien is located next to it. It lies in the middle of the historically mining district
Bergslagen. It is about 30 km to
Fagersta, 35 km to
Lindesberg and 70 km to
Västerås. When the last ice age in Bergslagen came to an end about 9,500 years ago, Riddarhyttan was located on the border between land and sea. That resulted in
kettles,
glacial erratics and other specific landforms. When the ice was melting, iron was released from the bedrock into the groundwater and became exposed iron oxide (ochre). That gave rise to a red-colour soil in some parts of Riddarhyttan, especially in the area called
Röda Jorden (
red earth). == History ==