In this article, an engineering approach is used to derive the access cost function for roundwood in northern Sweden. This approach can make use of detailed biological, technological and economic information and can give insights that cannot be gained with statistical methods. The engineering approach gives a reliable estimate of the whole cost function, so it avoids the difficulties of the statistical approaches in discriminating between different functional forms. The computations are based on data from the Swedish Forest Survey. Cost distributions are derived both at the roadside and at the mill and also with and without subsidies to forestry. Some applications to forest policy problems are mentioned. The elasticity of the cost curve near the current price level is the same as previously reported price elasticities.