Røros is a copper town built on cold and patience. It sits at the high end of the Gauldal valley, near the Swedish border, in a bleak, open plateau where winters are among the hardest in southern Norway, and the old wooden houses crowd together as if sharing warmth. UNESCO listed it in 1980, and it is one of the few places where you can see a mining town as it grew rather than as a museum.
The mine was founded in 1644 and operated for more than three hundred years, closing in 1977. The copper company ran everything, from the smelter to the farms that fed the workers, and the town's dark timber houses with their turf roofs, and the great stone church that dates from 1784, reflect that single-minded enterprise. Piles of slag still stand on the edge of town, and the smelter works, now a museum, has an impressive old hall. The surrounding landscape, called the Circumference, was reserved by royal decree for the company's use, with forests cut for charcoal and wood.
The local people include southern Sami reindeer herders, whose culture is older than the mine, and you can learn about them in the town. The winter market, the Rørosmartnan, takes place in February and attracts huge crowds despite the temperatures. In summer the town is quieter and the smell of woodsmoke and tar fills the lanes.
The riding in the area is open and gentle, with high plateau roads, birch scrub, bogs and long views, and traffic is light outside summer. Roads can be icy as early as September and as late as May, and there can be elk and reindeer on the road, particularly at dusk. The surface is generally good, and the bends are long and easy. Cross-country skiing trails begin right outside town in winter.
Røros has around three and a half thousand people, so fuel, groceries and cafes are all available, and the place is used to travellers. The nearest larger towns are a long way off, so fill up here before heading into the mountains or towards the Femundsmarka wilderness.
Walk the main street and look for the cafe that serves reindeer stew. Then look up; the stars here are very good when it is clear.