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Sognefjellsvegen
At 1,434 metres above sea level, the road across Sognefjellet is the highest
mountain pass in Northern Europe. The road runs along the edge of
Jotunheimen National Park.
The road is open from May to October/November.
Inside the national park, you will find Galdhopiggen and Glittertind, which
are the highest mountains in Norway. From the mountain plateaux, the road
dives west steeply down towards Sognefjorden, the world's longest and
deepest fjord.
From Rv. 55, you can take short or longer walks, go skiing, join guided cave
tours and glacier crossings or climb in mighty mountains. The mountain
plateaux between Krossbu and Turtagro offer many spectacular viewpoints and
rest areas. From Nes you can see Feigumfossen, a 218-metre waterfall. |
SOGNEFJELL – ACROSS THE ROOF OF
NORWAY
In majestic surroundings, high in
the mountains past blue ice, jagged peaks and emerald lakes, the Sognefjell
Road runs between Sognefjord, the world’s longest fjord, and the
Gudbrandsdal valley. The Sognefjell Road was designated Norway’s first
tourist route in 1997 and has just been upgraded to a National tourist route
in 2003. |
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The Sognefjell Road has carried
traffic since time immemorial. Fish and salt from the west and butter,
hides, iron and tar from the east were carried by people on their shoulders
or on horseback. The cairns helped travellers find the way in all kinds of
weather. |
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The Sognefjell Road gives you
access to Jotunheimen National Park, with Galdhøpiggen, Norway’s highest
mountain, and several of the other of the highest peaks in Norway, and to
Jostedalsbreen, Norway’s largest glacier. Here your can poke about on your
own among soaring peaks, take a tour over glaciers and mountain tops with
experienced guides, and go skiing all year round.
The route between the inland valley, high mountains and fjord offers
breathtaking contrasts in climate and topography and a variety of plant and
animal life, from lower elevations with farms, pine forests and the
conditions for human settlement to the alpine terrain approx. 1,000 metres
above sea level. Up here you’ll find bare rock with clear traces of the last
Ice Age, with grass, moss, lichen interspersed with juniper and willow. Here
you’ll also find hardy polar plants such as arctic buttercup, with mountain
birch here and there.
Wild as well as tame reindeer live on Sognefjell, and down towards the
valleys there are moose and deer. In the high mountains, eagles and
rough-legged buzzards thrive. In eastern regions there may be bears, lynx
and wolverines, though they are few and very shy. |
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