Jostedalsbreen 2° Jostedalsbreen national Park Early-purple orchid above the Nigard glacier The braided fluvioglacial river at Fåbergstølsgrandane 3° Jostedalsbreen national Park a landscape shaped by ice and water The Jostedalsbreen National Park has an enormous variety of habitats, ranging from lush, broad-leaved deciduous woodland in the low- lands to glaciers and towering peaks with an Arctic climate. The Jostedalsbreen ice cap extends unbroken for more than 60 kilometres. Covering an area of 487 km2, it comprises about 2/5 of the national park. Assets of special importance for the national park are glaciers, glacial rivers and moraines. The cultural landscape in valleys where transhumance summer dairy farms are located is also highly valuable. U-shaped valleys, moraines, glacially smoothed mountainsides, fluvioglacial plains and screes can all be found here. Over time immemorial, ice and water have shaped the landscape. An abundance of water provides good conditions for plant life and gives the valleys in the area unusually lush vegetation. 4° Jostedalsbreen national Park TrekkingStraumdalen on the Nigard glacier Melkevoll glacier EXPERIENCE NATURE Easy walks or demanding treks on glaciers The Jostedalsbreen district has been an attractive hiking area for many years, in particular for glacier trekking and climbing peaks. Recently, particularly strenuous trips such as skiing the length of the ice cap in spring, prefera- bly making a detour underway to Lodalskåpa, the highest peak, have become popular. Glacier trekking, however, is hazardous without proper knowledge and appropriate equipment. There are various guided treks offered on the ice cap and the glaciers radiating from it. The ancient trackways linking the valleys around the ice cap, such as through the passes of Oldeskaret and Supphelleskaret, offer thrilling walks. The Jostedalsbreen Ice Cap, particularly its outlet glaciers stretching down to Briksdalen and Fjærland, as well as the Nigard glacier, has been a cherished destination for ordinary tourists for many years. Footpaths can be followed along the valleys of Krundalen, Kjenndalen and Austerdalen right 5° Jostedalsbreen national Park View of Fjærlandsfjord up to the glacier, fairly easy walks with plenty to enjoy. The ascent of Lodalskåpa (2083 m a.s.l.), also called Vestlandsdronninga (the Queen of West Norway), is a long day’s trek and requires glacier-trekking equipment and a high level of fitness. Sunndalssetra, a summer dairy farm 6° Jostedalsbreen national Park Jostedalsbreen ice cap LANDSCAPE The largest glacier in mainland Europe Jostedalsbreen is a plateau glacier with many branches extending from about 300 to 2000 m a.s.l. including the various smaller glaciers, about half of the national park is covered by glaciers. Being one of the largest, continuous areas of undisturbed countryside remaining in southern Norway, this national park has high national value for nature conservation and outdoor recreation. Glaciers form as a result of a surplus of snow falling in winter relative to its thawing in summer. It may be cold, cloudy and windy on the glacier at the same time as it is warm, sunny and calm in the valleys. Frost and snowfall may occur on the glacier throughout the year. 7° Jostedalsbreen national Park Recent research indicates that Jostedalsbreen melted completely about 8000 years ago and began to form again some 5000 years ago to reach a new maximum in the Little Ice Age around 1750, at which time farms were overwhelmed by the advancing glacier arms. The Brenndalsbreen glacier calved as far down as Tungøyane farm in the Oldedalen valley, and Nigard farm was over- run by the Nigard glacier. Alpine catchfly and the Austerdal glacier Nordfjordeid Grotli Hellesylt Geiranger Tystigbreen Faleide Oppstryn Stryn N O R D F J O R D Loen Skålatårnet Sunndalssetra 1775 Innvik Havald-trede Olden Vetledalssetra Sognskards- Skardstein- Lo breen vatnet fjellet Erdalsbreen Slæom Utvik Bødalssetra Kupvatnet Ste Karistova Lodalskåpa gholtbreen Lodalsbreen Styg Sandane g evatnet Brenibba Br Breim eimsvatnet Sprongdalshytta Byrkjelo Myklebust- Kjenndalskruna breen JOSTEDALSBREEN Fåbergstølsbreen Fåbergstølen Flatsteinbu Kjenndalsbreen Nigards- Snønipa Brenndalsbreen Høgste breen 1827 1957 Fåberg Briksdalsbreen Breakulen Nigardsbreen NR Briksdal Kvitekoll 1930 Bergsetbreen 1844 Mjølver Ramnane Haugen Austerdalsbreen Gjerde Befring Spørtegg- T unsber breen Befringstølen Bings Skei gryte gdalsbreen Førde Vongsen Bjørga Jølstravatnet 1757 NATIONAL PARK Tungestølen Kjøsn 1551 esfjor den Supphelle Dvergsdalsstølen Bøyabreen 1731 nipa Vigdalstøl Lunde Tunsbergdals- Grova- Høgebru vatnet breen 1635 Fivla Brevasshytta Flatbrehytta Veitastrond Leirdal Svardals- Skjolden breen Grøneng Navarsete Jostefonn Luster 1615 Fjærland Steindals- 1613 Gaupne breen ondvatnet N E den D eitastr R V Marifjøra Berge Ånestølen O Nes J F Gaularfjellet A Førde R T Fjærlandsfjor S U Balestrand Sogndal Sogndal L Nordfjordeid Grotli Hellesylt Geiranger Tystigbreen Faleide Oppstryn Stryn N O R D F J O R D Loen Skålatårnet Sunndalssetra 1775 Innvik Havald-trede Olden Vetledalssetra Sognskards- Skardstein- Lo breen vatnet fjellet Erdalsbreen Slæom Utvik Bødalssetra Kupvatnet Ste Karistova Lodalskåpa gholtbreen Lodalsbreen Styg Sandane g evatnet Brenibba Br Breim eimsvatnet Sprongdalshytta Byrkjelo Myklebust- Kjenndalskruna breen JOSTEDALSBREEN Fåbergstølsbreen Fåbergstølen Flatsteinbu Kjenndalsbreen Nigards- Snønipa Brenndalsbreen Høgste breen 1827 1957 Fåberg Briksdalsbreen Breakulen Nigardsbreen NR Briksdal Kvitekoll 1930 Bergsetbreen 1844 Mjølver Ramnane Haugen Austerdalsbreen Gjerde Befring Spørtegg- T unsber breen Befringstølen Bings Skei gryte gdalsbreen Førde Vongsen Bjørga Jølstravatnet 1757 NATIONAL PARK Tungestølen Kjøsn 1551 esfjor den Supphelle Dvergsdalsstølen Bøyabreen 1731 nipa Vigdalstøl Lunde Tunsbergdals- Grova- Høgebru vatnet breen 1635 Fivla Brevasshytta Flatbrehytta Veitastrond Leirdal Svardals- Skjolden breen Grøneng Navarsete Jostefonn Luster 1615 Fjærland Steindals- 1613 Gaupne breen ondvatnet N E den D eitastr R V Marifjøra Berge Ånestølen O Nes J F Gaularfjellet A Førde R T Fjærlandsfjor S U Balestrand Sogndal Sogndal L 10° Jostedalsbreen national Park Glacier buttercups Foliose lichen PLANT LIFE From lush, transhumance valleys to glaciers and barren peaks The enormous range of habitats over short distances is caused by large gradients in local climate, sharp differences in altitude and the influence of the glaciers. Lush broad-leaved deciduous woodland with wych elm and small-leaved lime, and warmth-demanding plants such as the broad-leaved helleborine and spring pea are found in the lowlands, while 1500 m ”directly above” one can find alpine vegetation with, for example, glacier buttercups and trailing azalea. In front of the glacier snouts in the lowlands, pioneer plants such as purple saxifrage and starwort mouse-ear put colour into the grey landscape. The natural immi- gration of these plants as the glaciers retreat up the valleys is an important reason for protecting the area as a national park. Swamp woodlands on the gently sloping fluvioglacial plains are adapted to the changeable discharge and the shifting course of the rivers, and form a par- ticularly outstanding quality in the national park. Fåbergstølsgrandane is actually the largest active fluvioglacial plain in Norway. 11° Jostedalsbreen national Park Snow bunting Ptarmigan on the glacier ANIMAL LIFE The great variation in the plant life is reflected in the animal life. The glaciers have little animal life, just red deer and large predators like lynx and wolverine spora- dically roam there. The handsome snow bunting may be seen on the peaks surrounding the ice cap. Wild reindeer can be found furthest north in the national park. You may also be lucky enough to see large birds of prey such as golden eagles and rough-legged buzzards in the nearby mountains and valleys. Many red deer live in the valleys surrounding Joste- dalsbreen, and the birdlife is rich in the lush deciduous woodland and on farmland. You may also be lucky to see and hear the white-backed woodpecker. There is also still the possibility of undiscovered species turning up. In the 1970s, two new species of non-biting midges (chironomids), not known anywhere else in the world, were found in a lake (Vivavatnet) in Sprongdalen (Jostedalen), just outside the national park. Few lakes in the national park offer good fishing, and the high content of mud in the rivers means that conditions for fish are not good. 12° Jostedalsbreen national Park HISTORY Jostedalsbreen – an important artery in the old days The Jostedalsbreen ice cap used to be an important route used by travellers and livestock drovers journeying from the western valleys and fjord districts to inner Sognefjord and southeast Norway. Cattle and horses were led over the glacier to be sold at markets in southeast Norway, a long, hazardous journey. Nowadays, it would be diffi- cult to use the ice cap and glaciers for such a purpose because they have shrunk and thus become steeper and more crevassed. The cultural landscape, with its farms, transhumance farms, birch groves and so on, shows that man has been eking a living around the glaciers for many centuries. Farming is practiced in the settlements around the natio- nal park, and a few transhumance summer dairy farms are still operated in the traditional way. Modern tourism came to the Jostedalsbreen area in the latter half of the 19th century when the fjord landscape and glaciers in Norway