The Romsdal mountains

The Romsdal mountains are one of the most exciting and varied areas of walking terrain in Norway. The Romsdal mountains extend from the shores of Romsdalsfjord to the highest mountains in the north of Western Norway. The area has the highest rock face in Northern Europe, some of Norway`s best salmon rivers, flat mountain plateaus and lush pinelands. There is great variation in the area, and it provides fantastic opportunities for outdoor life: from the fjord landscape of gentle hills and forests in the north and west to wild and wonderful mountain terrain in the east and south. 

The contrasts between the fjords and mountains are striking. A walk may start by the sea and end up high in the mountains - without necessarily taking hours and hours. Many areas have real wilderness feel while being easily accessible. You can walk to one of the highest peaks and easily make it back in time for dinner. It`s also possible to walk for days on end in the mountains further inland. Many cabins are open to the public in this area, and many of them are also situated beside good fishing lakes. Boats and fishing equipment are available at some of the cabins. 

National parks

The biggest protected area complex in Norway extends from the fjord arms of the Sunndalen, Romsdalen and Tafjorden valleys in the west and inland to the villages of Kvikne, Folldal and further down into Rondane in the east. 

Large areas of the mountains on both sides of the Romsdalen valley are protected out of consideration for the area’s unique nature and fauna. There are protected areas on the east side of the Romsdalen valley that are part of the Dovrefjell-Sunndalsfjella National Park. Reinheimen National Park, with the Romsdalen valley, Trollstigen road and Tafjorden-Reindalen landscape protection areas, lies on the other side of the Romsdalen valley.

The Romsdalen landscape protection area cuts across the Romsdalen valley in the area Monge/Foss linking Reinheimen National Park to Dovrefjell-Sunndalsfjella National Park. The E 136 European Road, Rauma river and a number of farms in operation are covered by this protected area status. This is unique for a Norwegian protected area.

Dovrefjell-Sunndalsfjella National Park was originally established in 1974. Parts of Romsdal were also incorporated following a major expansion of the area in 2002, to include the landscape protection areas Dalsida and Eikesdalsvatnet, and Sandgrovbotn/Mardalsbotn biotope-protected area. The national park itself covers an area of 1,964 km2, and together with the pertaining protected areas, it forms the biggest protected area in Norway covering a total of 4,370 km2. The national park is a cross-section of Norwegian mountain landscape. It includes a wide range of different types of nature, from poor rock types in the west to limestone-rich rock with lush and abundant species of flora in the east. Unusual plants that have survived the Ice Age are also unique to this park. The protected area is also home to an almost intact mountain fauna of wild reindeer, wolverines, Arctic foxes and golden eagles.

Reinheimen National Park with pertaining landscape protection areas was established in 2006, and with an area of 1,969 km2, it is Norway’s third biggest national park. The national park covers a large, continuous and wilderness-like mountain area that forms the habitat of the wild reindeer herd in the northern Ottadalen valley. The landscape of the protected areas varies from lush summer pasture valleys to mountain plateaus, watercourses and lakes to high peaks, with the Trollveggen cliff the best known formation. 

The national parks and pertaining protected areas are protected against certain types of encroachment, but access to these areas is generally regulated by the same rules as apply to the public right of way. 

In the national parks, cycling, organised dog sledding and organised horse-riding etc. are only permitted on roads, on tracks or in areas where such use is approved.

In general, forms of access and use that may damage the natural environment require approval.

Geology and climate

The history of how these wild mountains were formed is as exciting as the mountains themselves.

This part of the Romsdalen valley is characterised by deep, narrow valleys with cascading waterfalls and rivers that link the mountains to the fjords and villages.

In geological terms, the area mostly comprises Precambrian gneiss and granite. These are the roots of a massive mountain range that extended from Ireland and Scotland to Svalbard and Greenland. The landscape is largely formed by folds that layered the different types of bedrock. The last Ice Age (from around 30,000 to 9,000 years ago) was followed by rivers and land uplift that further formed the landscape. This left deposits that are still found throughout much of Romsdal and that form characteristic features in the landscape. 

The Romsdalen valley itself, with the help of the Rauma river, has dug its way south, incorporating rivers that originally ran in the opposite direction The Vermedalen valley with the Verma river and the Brøstdalen valley with the Ulvåa river are examples of such hook valleys. These are side valleys in which the rivers changed direction as the Rauma river dug its way south with greater force than the side rivers. All of these rivers now run to the north.

The form the landscape has taken also has a huge bearing on the climate, since the mountains act as a barrier to the elements. The diverse landscape of Romsdal therefore results in a great variation in weather. The climate ranges from a mild and damp coastal climate in the west to a drier inland climate in the south and east. Precipitation is normally brought by wind from the north-west, while southerly and easterly winds bring stable, good weather.

Flora and fauna

The huge contrasts in the different types of nature also lead to a great diversity of flora and fauna.

Plants

The varied landscape and climate of Romsdal provides a basis for a rich flora and fauna. Uppermost in the Romsdalen valley, there are a number of dry-ground species such as moonwort, maiden pink and hoary plantain. The richest orchid meadow in the county is at Gravdehaug in the Romsdalen landscape protection area. Other plant communities are prevalent along the coast, e.g. earth chestnut, foxglove, bog asphodel and green-ribbed sedge. 

Deciduous woodland, of hazel, ash, elm, common alder, viburnum and alder buckthorn, grows on south-facing hillsides. The following can also be found, in addition to more common plants, in the mountains –lapland rosebay, hawkweed-leaved saxifrage, crimson-tipped lousewort and lyre-leaved rock cress.

Fauna

Romsdal has large continuous mountain areas. Large parts of these areas are protected through national parks and pertaining landscape protection areas, with the Dovrefjell mountains in the east and the Reinheimen mountains in the west. The Ottadalen herd of wild reindeer lives in the Reinheimen mountains. It is one of Norway's biggest wild reindeer herds. The Snøhetta reindeer, the descendants of the original wild reindeer in Norway, live in the Dovrefjell mountains. The Southern Norwegian wolverine lives in the interior of the Romsdal mountains. It also wanders the sides of the fjord arms. Lynx can also occasionally be seen in the area. Muskoxen and Arctic foxes also occasionally stray into Romsdal from the Dovrefjell mountains. There are deer herds in most of the area, particularly on wooded hillsides, and groups of deer can often be seen on clearings at dusk. They spend the winter in areas close to the fjord, and they migrate up the valleys in summer, sometimes as far as across the border to Lesja. Moose and roe deer also permanently inhabit parts of the area. Otter and mink are also found along the coast.

Birdlife

Romsdal has a rich birdlife, with sightings of rare species such as the corncrake, the eagle owl and the white-backed woodpecker. White-tailed eagles are growing in number and are now a common sight along the Romsdalsfjord. Golden eagles, rough-legged buzzards, goshawks and a number of other birds of prey are to be found in the valleys and mountains. Capercaillies and black grouse can be found on the valley hillsides, particularly in the areas nearest the coast, while ptarmigan live higher up in the mountains throughout the area. Many very typical mountain species are also strongly represented in the area, such as shorelarks, purple sandpipers, long-tailed ducks, dotterels and dunlins.

Cultural history

The spectacular scenery and the Romsdalen valley’s role as a transport artery has drawn travellers to the valley for hundreds of years. Today, the traces left by these travellers form part of the area’s cultural heritage.

The Romsdal mountains have been used since time immemorial. In the mountains, we find traces of animal pits used to trap wild reindeer, and stone shacks that have been used in connection with hunting and transport up until the present day. The many summer pasture farms and pertaining cultural landscape are also great destinations for walks.

There are also lots of cultural history walks in and around the hamlets and villages that lie dotted between the fjords and mountains, for example Romsdal’s last stave church (Rødven), the spectacular Raumabanen Railway, a number of museums and many other cultural relics. 

From the infancy of tourism in the 19th century, Romsdal has attracted both Norwegian and foreign travellers. The mountains, valleys and fjords gained an early reputation as among the most beautiful scenery in Norway. British lords and other foreign nobles came to the area to climb the mountains, fish salmon in the rivers and hunt in the mountains. It was the era of National Romanticism, and the extolments of Romsdalen were many and grandiose. Romsdal was (and is) Norway in a nutshell – embracing coastal culture and mountain villages.

Romsdalshornet was the most well-known motif, and many artists captured the mountain on canvas.

Fishing

In Rauma and the adjacent mountain areas, there are many great mountain lakes with good trout stocks that make for fantastic fishing. Bring your fishing rod with you on a walk!

Fishing in rivers and mountain lakes generally requires a fishing licence from the landowner. Fishing is free in the fjords for everyone, where you can catch trout, salmon, cod, saithe, whiting, mackerel and herring.

Trout are found in most of the rivers and mountain lakes. There are also salmon and sea trout in some of the bigger rivers. The biggest river is Rauma, which has a 42-km stretch with salmon. The salmon population and fishing opportunities in most rivers have been reduced due to a salmon parasite, but is expected to be declared clean during 2019. Please note that fishing is prohibited in all border zones between the rivers/sea at Henselva (Isa/Glutra), Måna, Innfjordselva/Igna,  Rauma and Mittetelva.

There are fishing opportunities in many mountain lakes, and boats and nets are available in some of them for those with a fishing licence.

Recommended fishing lakes: 

Alnesvatnet, 744 masl, Trollstigen, Grytten fjellstyre - buy fishing license here
Fleskevatnet, 1111 masl, Isfjorden, Hen fjellstyre
Glutervatnet, 856 masl, Isfjorden, Hen fjellstyre
Herjevatnet, 390 masl, Åfarnes, Sandnes og Holm utmarkslag
Kråkenesvatna, 1016 masl, Trollstigen, Medalen grunneierlag
Månvatnet, 726 masl, Måndalen, privat
Selsetervatnet 342 masl, Skorgdalen, Skorgen og Ljøsådalen jakt og fiskelag
Sjøbolet, 745 masl, Innfjorden,  Bøstølen og Svartrøsa grunneierlag
Småholsvatnet, 944 masl, Innfjorden, Voll fjellstyre
Ulvådalsvatnet, 858 masl, Brøstdalen, Kabben og Håndalen sameie/Tunga sameie
Vermevatnet, 1183 masl, Vermadalen, Grytten fjellstyre - buy fishing license here