The country is a mosaic of spruce and pine, small farms, bogs and long, slow lakes, running east toward the Swedish border, and it has a quiet, lonely character that suits a rider who has had enough of crowds. Kirkenær, the nearest town, has barely twelve hundred people.
The woods here have a distinctive history. In the seventeenth century, Finnish settlers, drawn by the chance of cheap land and a way of farming that involved burning the forest to grow rye, moved into the area and became known as the forest Finns. They brought their language, their log smoke saunas and their folklore, and their culture survived in the Finnskogen for centuries. At Grue, a church fire in 1822 killed more than a hundred people, one of the worst such disasters in the country, and the present church stands as a memorial.
Riding here is calm, with long, straight roads through the forest, gentle rolls and few bends. The surface is generally good, and traffic is light, though timber lorries use the main routes. The risk is moose, which are common and can cross the road at dawn and dusk, so keep your speed down in the woods and watch the verges. The forest is at its best in September, when the birch leaves turn and the light is low.
The lakes are good for swimming, with soft, brown water and quiet beaches that are often empty. Fuel is available at Kirkenær and Våler, but pumps may be unmanned, and cards are the norm, so carry one that works in Norway. Shops close early, and distances are long, so plan your meals. Bring mosquito repellent in summer, because the forest is full of insects, and a warm layer for the evening. The silence at night is deep.