Hardangervidda: Hiking Northern Europe’s Largest Mountain Plateau

SummitClimbs Field Note: Hardangervidda is Northern Europe’s largest mountain plateau: a vast, treeless highland at about 1,100–1,200 m across Vestland, Telemark and Buskerud, covering roughly 6,500–8,000 km² depending on how it is measured. Its heart is protected as Hardangervidda National Park (3,422 km², 1981), Norway’s largest. It is home to Europe’s largest wild reindeer herd, criss-crossed by DNT trails between huts, and in winter one of Norway’s great hut-to-hut ski areas. It looks gentle, but the weather is truly alpine.

A Plateau, Not a Peak

Hardangervidda runs from Røldal in the south to Finsedalen and the Bergen Line in the north, bordered by the Setesdal heaths at Haukelifjell. The west and north are rugged, with bare rock; east of the watershed it becomes a classic vidde, flat and softer, with more vegetation. The west is also much wetter, with over 1,000 mm of precipitation a year in places. Above the plateau rise Hardangerjøkulen (almost 1,900 m) in the north, the highest ice-free point Sandfloegga (1,721 m), and the landmark Hårteigen (1,690 m), visible from much of the plateau.

The flat landscape is ancient. The bedrock is mostly hard Precambrian gneiss and granite about a billion years old, worn down to a near-flat plain, later covered by Caledonian thrust sheets in the northwest (the remains of which form Hårteigen, Hallingskarvet and the ground under Hardangerjøkulen), and finally uplifted, with ice-age glaciers smoothing it all.

Hardangervidda at a Glance

• Area: about 6,500–8,000 km² (sources differ); national park 3,422 km² (1981)
• Height: mostly 1,100–1,200 m; highest ice-free point Sandfloegga, 1,721 m
• Counties: Vestland, Telemark, Buskerud
• Big lakes: Møsvatn, Totak, Songevatnet, Ustevatn
• Wildlife: Europe’s largest wild reindeer herd (ideally about 12,000 animals), gyrfalcon, golden eagle, Arctic fox near Finse
• Visitor centres: Hardangervidda Natursenter in Eidfjord; Hardangervidda Nasjonalparksenter at Skinnarbu by Møsvatn
• Crossings: the Bergen Line and National Road 7 cross the plateau
• Huts: a comprehensive DNT network of huts and marked paths

Hiking and Skiing on the Vidda

The Norwegian Trekking Association maintains an extensive network of huts and paths across the plateau, which makes it ideal for multi-day hut-to-hut trips in summer and on skis in winter; Easter is the classic time to ski from hut to hut. Popular approaches include Finse in the north, Haukeliseter in the south and the visitor-centre areas at Eidfjord and Skinnarbu. For route ideas, see our guides to hiking trails on Hardangervidda and the classic Haukeliseter to Finse trail, and the glacier at its northern edge, Hardangerjøkulen.

The whole plateau lies above the tree line, so there is little shelter. Navigation in fog, strong wind and sudden snow showers, even in summer, are the main hazards: carry a map and compass, full waterproofs and warm layers, and plan your days between huts carefully.

Reindeer, Trout and Rare Flowers

Hardangervidda’s wild reindeer herd is the largest in Norway and Europe and includes remnants of the original European mountain reindeer. The animals winter in the east, where they graze on lichen, and move west in spring and summer; the main calving area is Veigdalen. The lime- and phyllite-rich ground in the west and north, around Haukeli and Finse and along the paths to Hårteigen, has rich flora, including orchids and mountain avens. In the many shallow lakes, trout dominate in the west and north, with more Arctic char in the east and south. A soil sample taken here in 1969 even gave the world ciclosporin, the drug that prevents rejection after organ transplants.

9,000 Years of People

The plateau became ice-free about 9,000 years ago, and people followed the reindeer: around 250 Stone Age settlements have been found, the oldest from about 6500 BC at Finsevatnet. Trapping systems, Iron Age iron-making sites (around 1,400 at Møsvatn alone) and summer farms followed. Ancient routes such as Nordmannsslepa, the oldest inland routes between eastern and western Norway, cross the plateau, and up to 15,000 place names record its long use.

The SummitClimbs Take

Hardangervidda is Norway’s great open space: reindeer, endless lakes and a hut network that lets you walk or ski for days. Treat it as high mountain terrain, not a meadow, and you will find some of the finest wilderness trekking in Europe.

Facts from Wikipedia (Hardangervidda) and Norwegian Wikipedia. Check DNT hut opening and conditions before you go.