Sognefjellet High Road
A 511 km loop
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Why this ride
Leave the city behind and spend the day on roads with texture. A 511 km loop that starts and ends near Bjørkelangen, about 9 h 27 of riding. On the way it passes Stange, near Reinsvoll, near Lampeland and Nesoddtangen. The climb of the day is near Kirkebygda.
Roadbook
- Fuel stop near Bjørkelangen
fuel
Bjørkelangen is the main village of Aurskog-Høland, east of Oslo, on the shore of a long lake of the same name, in a landscape of forests, lakes and farmland stretching towards the Swedish border. It is a quiet, unpretentious place, with shops, a church and a few cafés, and it makes a practical start for rides into the forests and lakes of the region.
The area was once known for its timber and its farms, and the forests still cover much of the land. The narrow-gauge Urskog–Hølandsbanen, a museum railway nicknamed Tertitten, runs on summer Sundays from Sørumsand, with old steam trains puffing through the countryside. It is a charming relic of a time when small railways linked the farming villages with the towns.
As a start and fuel stop, Bjørkelangen has service stations, shops and cafés. From here, the roads lead north and east through forests and along lakes, with gentle curves and very little traffic. The landscape is quiet and peaceful, with the smell of pine and the sound of birds. In summer, the long evenings and the soft light make riding a pleasure.
Surfaces are generally good, though frost heave can make some roads bumpy, and gravel roads are common in the forests. Speed limits are low and enforced. Watch for elk, especially at dawn and dusk, as collisions can be serious. Take on fuel here before heading into the forests, where services are sparse.
- Near Stange, on the way back
swim
Mjøsa is the reason to stop here. Norway's largest lake runs for more than a hundred kilometres from Lillehammer down to Minnesund, and on this stretch of its eastern shore, south of Stange and around the farming village of Tangen, the water lies wide and calm below gentle fields of grain. Across the lake you can see Skreia and the low wooded ridge of Toten, and on a still evening the far shore doubles itself in the surface.
This is Hedmarken, some of the best farmland in the country, and it shows. Big red barns, white farmhouses with deep verandas, long straight hedgerows and fields of barley and potatoes roll down to the lake. The land was settled early and stayed prosperous, and the old farms carry the confidence of families who never had to leave for America in hard years the way so many in the west did. Hamar, a short ride north, was a medieval bishop's seat, and the ruined cathedral there now sits under a striking glass shelter.
The swim itself is cold, honestly cold, even in July. Mjøsa is deep, over four hundred metres at its deepest point, and the water rarely warms much beyond the high teens near the surface on a good summer, so the trick is a quick plunge, a gasp, and a towel. Look for a gravel beach or a small public bathing spot near one of the shoreline settlements; locals swim wherever the bank is gentle and the path goes down. The shallows near the southern shore warm faster than the open water.
As for the riding, it is relaxed on the way home. The E6 motorway carries the through traffic past here between Oslo and Trondheim, and the old county roads closer to the lake are much nicer, slower and quieter, curving past farms and through small birch woods. Watch for tractors in harvest season and for moose at dusk where the forest comes down to the road. Hamar is the nearest proper town, with fuel, cafes and supermarkets, and Stange itself has the basics.
If you are lucky with timing, you may see the paddle steamer Skibladner, launched in the 1850s and still running summer trips on the lake, the oldest paddle steamer in scheduled service in the world. Its white hull and tall funnel churning past the fields are a sight from another century.
- Food stop near Reinsvoll
food
West of Lake Mjøsa, Norway's largest lake, the land rises into the gentle hills of Toten, some of the best farmland in the country. Reinsvoll is a small community here, set among fields, farmsteads and patches of spruce forest, with long views over the lake and the hills beyond. It is a quiet place, where you are more likely to meet a tractor than a tourist.
The region has a long history of farming and industry. Nearby Raufoss is home to a big industrial park whose roots lie in an ammunition factory founded in the nineteenth century, and Gjøvik, on the shore of Mjøsa, has a cavern hall built inside a mountain for the 1994 Lillehammer Winter Olympics. Mjøsa itself is deep and long, and the old paddle steamer Skibladner, the oldest paddle steamer in regular service in the world, still plies its waters in summer.
The riding here is pleasant, with rolling roads through farmland and forests, and views over the lake. To the north and west, the roads climb towards the mountains of Valdres and Jotunheimen, leading eventually to the Sognefjellet, the highest mountain pass in northern Europe. Traffic is light, but speed limits are low and enforced, and wildlife, especially moose, can be a hazard. In spring, frost heaves and gravel make the minor roads uneven.
Reinsvoll is too small to count on for fuel; Raufoss or Gjøvik is where to fill the tank and find a proper meal. A picnic by the lake or a coffee in Gjøvik's harbour are good ways to break the ride. Norway is expensive, so supermarket lunches are common among travelling riders.
- Photo stop near Lampeland
photo
Lampeland is a small village in Flesberg, in the lower part of Numedal, the long valley that runs north-west from Kongsberg into the mountains of southern Norway. The river Numedalslågen flows through the valley, wide and calm in places, rushing over rapids in others, and the road follows it, with forested slopes rising on both sides and farms on the valley floor.
Numedal is known for its medieval stave churches, and Flesberg has one of them, a small, dark wooden church dating back to the Middle Ages, though much altered over the centuries. Further up the valley, the stave churches at Nore and Uvdal are among the most beautiful in Norway, with painted interiors and carved portals.
To the south, Kongsberg was founded in the seventeenth century after silver was found in the hills, and the silver mines were for a time among the largest in Europe. The mines at Saggrenda are open for tours, with a train taking you deep into the mountain. The town also has a fine Baroque church, one of the largest in Norway.
For riders, Rv40 through Numedal is a lovely road, with gentle curves along the river and views of the valley and the mountains. Traffic is light, especially outside the summer holidays. Speed limits are low and strictly enforced in Norway, and speed cameras are common. Kongsberg has the full range of fuel and food; up the valley, the villages have a few shops and stations, spaced further apart the higher you go. As a photo stop, the river and the valley, with the forested slopes beyond, are classic Norwegian scenery.
- Near Nesoddtangen
finish
Out on the Oslofjord, between the Nesodden peninsula and the western shore near Slemmestad, the water is wide, island-studded and busy with sails on summer weekends. This point sits in that stretch of fjord country, a few kilometres from Nesoddtangen, where wooded shores, smooth granite skerries and summer cabins line the water, and the towers of Oslo are visible to the north. The ferries that cross the fjord, and the many small boats, give the area a maritime feel.
The shores on both sides tell different stories. Nesodden has long been a refuge for artists and writers seeking quiet and nature close to the city, and its wooded hills and small coves are popular for walks and swimming. Slemmestad, on the western side, grew around a large cement factory that operated for most of the twentieth century, using the limestone of the area, and its industrial buildings now house a museum. The islands of the fjord, many now protected, are popular for swimming, picnics and camping in the long summer evenings.
The Sognefjellet ride is one of Norway's great mountain roads, but it starts a long way from here. The road heads north through the valleys of Valdres or Gudbrandsdalen to Lom, with its wooden stave church, and then climbs over the Sognefjell between the peaks of Jotunheimen, reaching around 1,400 metres, the highest mountain pass road in northern Europe. In early summer, the road runs between walls of snow, and the views of glaciers and peaks are extraordinary. It then descends in a series of tight hairpins to Skjolden at the end of the Sognefjord. The pass is closed in winter, usually from autumn until late spring, so check the dates before you plan.
Riding in Norway requires patience. Speed limits are low and fines are heavy, tunnels are long and cold, and the roads are often narrow and winding. Tolls are collected automatically, and ferries are part of many routes. Weather can change quickly in the mountains, with rain, fog and even snow possible in summer.
Fuel, food and supplies are easy to find around Oslo and its suburbs, but stations become sparse in the mountains, so fill up whenever you can. Pack warm, waterproof clothes, even in July. Before leaving, take a moment by the fjord to watch the light on the water, especially in the long, golden evenings of midsummer.
- Scenic stretch near Moss
scenic
Scenic stretch near Moss comes up 365 km in.
- High point near Kirkebygda
pass
You top out here; the road stops climbing.
- Back to Sognefjellet
finish
Sognefjellet itself is a long way from here, up in the mountains between Lom and Skjolden, and this finish point is not on it. It is calm farm country, a patchwork of fields cut into dark spruce, with small lakes and red barns, and it is where a long mountain ride can wind down gently.
The real Sognefjellet road, riksvei 55, is worth knowing about for the contrast. It reaches about 1,434 metres and is the highest mountain road in Northern Europe, crossing a bare plateau of snow patches, black tarns and glacier-ground rock beside the Jotunheimen range. It closes in winter and opens in late spring depending on the snow, so a ride that includes it is a summer ride. Coming back down to the lowlands afterwards, you feel the air thicken and warm, and the smell changes from cold stone to resin and cut grass.
Near here the great river Glomma slows and widens toward the sea, and at Fetsund there is a museum dedicated to the log floating that once carried timber from the mountains to the mills. For centuries that river was a road made of wood, and the whole economy of this part of the country depended on it. You can still see the old booms and wooden structures, and the story of how the logs were sorted and tied is well told.
The riding in this part of the country is gentle. Roads are quiet, well surfaced, and run through woods where elk are a real hazard at dusk and dawn, so keep your speed down when the light fades. Villages are small and sleepy, and a petrol station may be a stretch of kilometres away, so fill up in Fetsund or the larger towns before you commit to the back lanes. Coffee and a bun in a local bakery is the correct conclusion.