Røros is a town built on copper, and it looks like it. Miners began digging here in 1644, and for more than three centuries the works shaped everything: the dark timber houses with turf roofs, the great heaps of slag that sit at the edge of town, and the smelter that still stands in the middle. The mines finally closed in 1977, and the whole town centre and a wide ring of countryside around it, called the Circumference, are now a World Heritage Site. The Circumference matters because the mining company had rights over wood, water and farmland in that ring, and the landscape was organised to feed the works.
It stands high, a little over six hundred metres above the sea, on a plateau of low hills, bogs and birch. Winters here are among the coldest in southern Norway, and the old wooden houses were built close together to share warmth. In summer the sky is wide and the air is clean, with the smell of woodsmoke and resin in the evening. The big stone church, finished in the eighteenth century, stands over the roofs like a lantern and was once the pride of the miners. Reindeer meat is on local menus, and the area is part of the southern Sami homeland, which you will see in the shops and craft stalls.
The riding is some of the calmest in the country. The road up from Trondheim along the Gaula valley climbs gradually, and the final stretch onto the plateau is open, forested and pleasant at a relaxed pace. Surfaces are generally good, but the farm roads around town can be rough in spring when the frost heaves them. You will meet more reindeer than lorries on the quieter lanes, and they cross the road without warning.
Røros is large enough for fuel and groceries, and the main street has cafes where a waffle with sour cream and jam is the proper thing to order. The best light is late in the afternoon, when the wooden facades turn amber. The place is busy at midsummer and in the winter market season, and calm in between.