Why this ride
From Alta it runs 140 km to Alta; allow about 3 h 40 of riding. The stops in between: Transferdalen, LOHDIZHJOKKI Luvdiidcohkka and back through Transferdalen. The line favours views over speed.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Rock Art of Alta and LOHDIZHJOKKI Luvdiidcohkka
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 140 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 3 h 40
- Journey
- Recorded itinerary
Distance and timing basis
Ordered leg totals agree within rounding. Stop distances are approximate sums of rounded legs. Stops, delays, approach and any separate return travel add time. Basis: producer-declared routed record.
Reading history stays on this device. My road watch requires a separate selection; opening it does not subscribe this ride.
Distance and riding time are measured on the routed road. Check local closures and conditions before you ride.
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. Rock Art of Alta
On the shore of the Altafjord, a few kilometres from the town, a long hill of smooth grey rock slopes down to the water, and its surface is covered with pictures. There are thousands of them, carved by hunters between roughly seven thousand and two thousand years ago: reindeer, elk, bears, boats, fish, and human figures that seem to dance or drum. The carvings sit at Hjemmeluft, beside the Alta Museum, and the whole group is a World Heritage site. The oldest are life-size reindeer, and some of the later scenes show hunting and ritual in strikingly lively detail.
Read the complete Rock Art of Alta write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Rock Art of Alta is where the day begins. Next is Transferdalen.
2. Transferdalen
Alta is the biggest town in Finnmark, the northernmost county of Norway, and it lies at the head of a fjord far inside the Arctic Circle, on the same latitude as northern Alaska and the Siberian coast. East of town, the valley called Transferdalen cuts into the plateau, a place of birch and willow on its lower slopes and bare, rounded fell above, with a river in the bottom and Sámi names on the maps. The peak whose name appears on the ride titles, Luvdiidcohkka, is one of those Sámi names, and the Sámi, whose reindeer herds still move across this land, are the people who have known it longest.
Read the complete Transferdalen write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Transferdalen comes up about 16 km into the recorded legs. Next is LOHDIZHJOKKI Luvdiidcohkka.
3. LOHDIZHJOKKI Luvdiidcohkka
Alta calls itself the northern lights town, and it has some right to the claim. The little town on the Alta fjord, about a degree and a half south of the North Cape, has some of the clearest, most dependable aurora in Norway, and visitors travel from across the world in winter to stand in the cold and wait. In summer, the same sky never gets dark, and the midnight sun lights the fjord and the hills for weeks. The nearest large settlement to this stop on the plateau, Alta has about twelve thousand people, and it is thirty-six kilometres away.
Read the complete LOHDIZHJOKKI Luvdiidcohkka write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 70 km into the recorded legs you reach LOHDIZHJOKKI Luvdiidcohkka. Next is back through Transferdalen.
4. back through Transferdalen
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Transferdalen write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Transferdalen, late in the day. Next is Rock Art of Alta.
5. Rock Art of Alta
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Rock Art of Alta write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Back at Rock Art of Alta. That is the ride.
Leg by leg
Rock Art of Alta to Transferdalen
Rock Art of Alta → Transferdalen is 16 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Transferdalen to LOHDIZHJOKKI Luvdiidcohkka
Transferdalen → LOHDIZHJOKKI Luvdiidcohkka is 54 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
LOHDIZHJOKKI Luvdiidcohkka to back through Transferdalen
LOHDIZHJOKKI Luvdiidcohkka → back through Transferdalen is 54 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Transferdalen to Rock Art of Alta
back through Transferdalen → Rock Art of Alta is 17 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.