N A S RK JONALPA DOVREFJELL- SUNNDALSFJELLA United and loyal until the mountains of dovre crumble 2° 3° Dovrefjell-Sunndalsfjella National Park Dovrefjell-Sunndalsfjella National Park Norway’s roof The Dovrefjell-Sunndalsfjella National Park and surrounding protected areas cover approximately 4367 km2, making this one of the largest continuous protected areas in mainland Norway. Here, you can experience a varied landscape with geological, botanical, zoological and cultural historical gems. The park contains an almost intact ecosystem that includes wild reindeer, wolverines, arctic foxes, ravens and golden eagles, and the only Norwegian population of musk oxen also lives on Dovrefjell. Dovrefjell in autumn colouring (AJM/SNO) 4° 5° Dovrefjell-Sunndalsfjella National Park Dovrefjell-Sunndalsfjella National Park Which way is best? (KSK) The view along Veslsvartdalen (PJ) ENJOY THE SCENERY The Dovrefjell-Sunndalsfjella National Park offers many a good chance of seeing musk oxen. Alternatively, you opportunities for outdoor recreation. You can walk, ski can get a fine view of Snøhetta from the Norwegian Wild and spend the night wherever you want. The east has Reindeer Centre Pavilion at Tverrfjellet, near Hjerkinn. rounded landscape forms. If you enter the park from the west, you will experience the typical landscape of The Norwegian Ramblers Association has marked some western Norway with its steep, sharp peaks and deep paths and ski trails between its cabins. If you walk or ski valleys. Climbing Snøhetta is the real highlight. You can there, you must consider the welfare of the wild reindeer, start at Kongsvold and walk to Reinheim, or take the path particularly in winter and spring. The inner part of the from Hjerkinn to Snøheim; both are fine starting points park has few marked paths and ski trails. for a day-long ascent of Snøhetta. On the way, you have The pavilion at Tverrfjellet (HY/SNO) The Snøhetta viewing point (NVN) 6° 7° Dovrefjell-Sunndalsfjella National Park Dovrefjell-Sunndalsfjella National Park Snøhetta at dawn (PJ) LANDSCAPE AND GEOLOGY Diversity and character In the north-west, dramatic, almost alpine, scenery The contrasts are great in the Dovrefjell-Sunndalsfjella stretches out towards the valleys of Sunndalen and National Park. Its geographical location makes the area a Romsdalen. Notable peaks include Storkalken (1880 m meeting place of oceanic and continental climates, where a.s.l.) in the west, the majestic Storskrymten (1985 m terrain forms, the geology and the vegetation vary a great a.s.l.) and the famous Snøhetta (2286 m a.s.l.). deal from east to west. The bedrock in the west is ancient basement composed Habitats vary from upland plateaus and towering peaks to of hard, acid rock types, while areas north and east rich wetlands, lush heaths and dramatic watercourses in of Snøhetta have younger rocks that weather to the lower parts. Verdant valleys with transhumance dairy produce nutrient-rich soils. Knutshøene and the other farms wind into the marginal parts of the mountainous mountainous areas in the east are famed for their rich area. alpine flora. Skrymtan (PJ) The Sørhell waterfall (PJ) Vassenden Vistdal Innerdalshytta Gjevilvasshytta Gjevillvatnet Eresfjord Sunndalsøra Bårdsgården Storsalen Blåøret Grøa Måsvassbu 1798 1589 Brandstad Fale Festa 1605 Vasstindbu Kråkvasstind Storhornet 1880 Åmotan Grøvudalen LVO 1700 Oppdal Isfjorden Svartvassbu Storkalkinn Vollasetra Lønset Olbu Eikesdalsvatnet Kvikne LVO Remvassbu Hoemsbu Vangshaugen Gjøra Dindalshytta Eikedals- Slotthøa Raubergshytta vatnet Driva Orkelsjøhytta Sandgrovbotn- 1833 Torbudalen BVV Nordre Eikesdalsvatnet Snøfjeltjørn NR Mardalsbotn BVV Storskarhøa Gammelsetra Eikesdal LVO Åmotan Grøvudalen LVO DOVREFJELL-SUNNDALSFJELLA 1871 Gruvudalshytta Åmotsdalen LVO Lertjønnkollen Knutshø LVO Loennchenbua Marstein Aursjøhytta Inste 1964 DOVREFJELL-SUNNDALSFJELLA Tythøa Høggla Kleineggen Grønliskars- NATIONAL PARK Storskrymten 1641 Brunhøe Aursjøen tinden 1773 NATIONAL PARK 1926 1986 Vermevatnet 1616 Svarthøe Åmotsdalshytta Dalsida LVO Snøhetta Reinheimen Midthøa Sørhellhøe Knutshøin 1883 Meløyfloen NR Brulia Storhøe 2286 1700 1951 Svånåtindan 1868 Kongsvoll Bjorli Merratind 2209 Hjerkinn/ Vakkerstøylen 1702 Sjongshøe Kongsvoll/ Flåman NR Drivdalen LVO Knutshø LVO 1946 Sletthøa 1732 Hjerkinn Bjølverud Hjerkinnholen NR Lesjaskog- Hatten Dovregubbens hall Borkhus Storhø vatnet Eide Hageseter 1921 Dalflya Skarvehøe Furuhaugli Folldal Diger- Lora 1665 Jora LVO 1945 Digervarden Fokstugu LVO Veslehjerkinntjørnin kampen NR Bruvoll Torsbu Halvfarhø Grimsdalshytta Storbreen 1780 Lesja Fokstumyra NR 1689 Rollstad Dovre NP Dombås Digital cartography: Gåsvatn kart-tjenester, www.kart-tjenester.no Digital map data: Statens kartverk N250. Order no. MAD12002-R125240 www.kart-tjenester.no Digital cartography: Gåsvatn kart-tjenester, LEGEND County border National Park Protected Landscape Nature Reserve Wildlife Conservation Area Parking Camping Accommodation Tourist Cabin, staffed Café/restaurant Tourist Cabin, self service 0 4 8 12 16 20 Km Tourist Cabin, unstaffed National Park Information Center M = 1:690.000 10° 11° Dovrefjell-Sunndalsfjella National Park Dovrefjell-Sunndalsfjella National Park Oter (GR) Shore lark (BB) Dotterel (KA) Reindeer buck (PJ) Arctic fox (BB) ANIMAL AND BIRD LIFE Birds of prey, wolverines and arctic foxes The varied plant cover gives good conditions for diverse Musk oxen pay scant attention to people, but if they feel bird life – from ptarmigan and small birds to larger threatened they may just attack. To avoid hazardous raptors like the golden eagle, gyr falcon and rough-legged confrontations, you should keep a minimum distance of buzzard. 200 m. If you spot a musk ox on your route, give it a wide berth and let it have the right of way. The Dovrefjell-Sunndalsfjella National Park is an important haunt of the wolverine in southern Norway. One of the last wild reindeer strains in Europe If you are lucky, you will catch a glimpse of this ”eternal The Dovrefjell-Sunndalsfjella National Park has viable roamer”, but you are probably more likely to come across strains of the original wild mountain reindeer. Wild its characteristic tracks in the snow. The arctic foxes that reindeer reached Norway when the ice melted after the live in the park descend from foxes bred in captivity and last Ice Age and have been a valuable resource for human released here in the hope that they will help to rebuild a beings here ever since. Thousands of years of hunting viable population in Norway. and trapping have made them very timid. They have a good sense of smell and can become aware of people The musk ox – the shaggy primeval beast close on a kilometre away. If you discover a wild reindeer Musk oxen died out in Europe during the last Ice Age. before it discovers you, you should stay put until it moves They have now made themselves at home in the park away. after several re-introductions between 1932 and 1953. Its compact body and robust coat admirably equip this primeval beast to withstand harsh winters in the moun- tains. 12° 13° Dovrefjell-Sunndalsfjella National Park Dovrefjell-Sunndalsfjella National Park Spring pasque flower (BB) A pitfall at Sørhellhø (PJ) PLANT LIFE HISTORY AND CULTURAL HERITAGE RELICS Outstanding alpine flora The mountains and the people An early botanist, G.C. Oeder, discovered the rich flora When the ice retreated after the last Ice Age, the wild of the Dovrefjell-Sunndalsfjella area in the 1750s, and reindeer migrated into what is now the Dovrefjell- botanists have been flocking here ever since. Calcareous Sunndalsfjella National Park. Hunters followed in their rocks go a long way towards explaining the unusual footprints. Stone Age settlements have been found plant life which includes such rarities as the grass, Poa that are some 9400 years old. The whole area has lindebergii, alpine hairbell, a subspecies of arctic poppy, numerous reindeer hunting relics, including bowmen’s Papaver radicatum ssp. ovatilobum, a local species of hides, pitfalls and trapping systems. A Sámi settlement dandelion, Taraxacum dovrense, Norwegian mugwort, from the 10th century AD has been found at Aursjøen. tundra chickweed and a rare whitlowgrass, Draba Most Stone Age finds have been made in the west, where cacuminum. Some of these species are thought to have hides predominate. Pitfalls predominate in the east. One survived the last Ice Age on ice-free peaks (nunataks). of the world’s largest known concentrations of pitfalls, numbering about 1250, is found along a 27-km-long stretch from Fokstugu to Kongsvold. Remains of former houses show that people made a living in these upland valleys the whole year round. Following the death of King Olaf II (Saint Olaf), pilgrims journeyed over Dovrefjell to reach Nidaros Cathedral in Trondheim, where the canonised king lay buried. Deposits of chromium, copper, zinc and sulphide ores attracted miners up above the tree line. Alpine azalea (PJ) 14° 15° Dovrefjell-Sunndalsfjella National Park Dovrefjell-Sunndalsfjella National Park Dovrefjell-Sunndalsfjella N A S RK JONALPA National Park in brief Where: The boroughs of Nesset and Sunndal in the county of Møre & Romsdal, Old stone arrowheads (PJ) Oppdal in Sør-Trøndelag, and Dovre and Lesja in Oppland. How to reach Dovrefjell-Sunndalsfjella: By train: the Dovre Line to Dombås, Hjerkinn, Kongsvold or Oppdal, or the Rauma Line to Lesja, Bjorli or Åndalsnes. In a national park, you are one By bus or car: E 6 over Dovrefjell; Dombås-Oppdal, E 136 Dombås-Åndalsnes,